Still hurting after trying physical therapy? We want to understand why. It is discouraging to put time and effort into treatment and still miss the things you love. You may have followed every instruction and still feel unsure what to do next. We’ll listen to what you tried, look at what changed and help you understand what a useful next step could involve.
One-on-one PT with Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT. No referral needed. In-person care in Holladay, serving Greater Salt Lake City, and virtual coaching from anywhere.
When PT is not helping, the next step should be a clear review of the plan. Check what treatment is meant to change, how your body responds and whether everyday life is becoming easier. Then agree on what to adjust and when to review it. These six questions can help with that conversation, whether you continue with your therapist or seek another perspective.
For back and neck concerns, you’ll work one-on-one with Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT. We connect McKenzie assessment, pain education and strength work to what you want to do again. You’ll have time to practice and ask questions before taking the plan home.
DPT, Cert. MDT
Your story comes first with Dr. Emily
Emily’s early work in neurological rehabilitation shaped her interest in movement, pain and what people want to get back to.
Emily wants to hear your questions, what you have already tried and what you most want back. Your examination and diagnosis help guide care, alongside your response to movement. You practice a manageable starting plan together and review how it works in your daily life.
Meet Emily and explore her approach · Request a Free Case Review to discuss how to move better and feel more confident in daily life.
When previous treatment has not brought the progress you hoped for
Google review: Kim P.
“She quickly identified my back and leg issues within just a few appointments, leading to immediate improvements in my condition.”
You can tell us what helped, what flared your symptoms and what felt hard to keep doing. We want to understand that before adding more exercises. Sometimes the useful next step is a different movement, a more manageable amount or a clearer way to progress.
1. Are we measuring the right kind of progress?
A pain score is useful, but it does not describe your whole day. Choose a few activities you want to improve: sleeping, driving, walking, getting dressed, or lifting at work. Ask how they were measured at the start and how you will compare them over time.
For example, “I can walk for 15 minutes instead of five, but I still wake twice at night” gives your therapist something specific to work with. This illustrates how to describe progress; it is not a patient result. If nothing important is changing, say so directly.
Compare a task under reasonably similar conditions. Note the activity, how much you managed and what happened later. A better pain score during an appointment is encouraging; we also want to know whether you can finish a work task, use the stairs or settle into bed more comfortably.
2. Does the working diagnosis still fit?
Ask your therapist to explain what the assessment suggests and how that guides your exercises. If your symptoms have changed, the plan may need to change too. You should feel welcome to ask for another look.
For spine symptoms, describe any change in the location of pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness. Bring relevant reports, but do not assume an imaging label explains every symptom.
A useful explanation should connect with what you notice. You can ask, “Which findings support this plan, and what would make us reconsider it?” If another scan or test is proposed, ask which question it would answer and how the result could change care. New or worsening symptoms deserve a fresh look rather than being assumed to be the same problem.
3. Does the exercise plan match my response and daily life?
Review which exercises you actually tried, the dose, and what happened during and afterward. A plan can be too demanding, too easy, unclear, or difficult to fit around your responsibilities. Those are useful problems to solve together.
- Ask your therapist to watch you perform the exercise.
- Clarify the expected response and when to modify it.
- Identify the smallest workable home routine.
- Agree on when the plan will be reviewed.
Bring the routine you actually do
A program is more than the exercise name. Include the starting position, range, repetitions or holds, frequency, added weight and extra stretches or workouts. Tell us what you could realistically fit in. This helps us choose a workable adjustment with you.
For example, an exercise that feels manageable once may leave you worse when repeated through the day. Another may have become so easy that it no longer prepares you for your goal. We can review technique, amount, rest and progression together. Change should have a reason, rather than simply adding more work.
For back symptoms, our McKenzie exercise guide explains why movement selection matters. Unusual sensitivity may warrant a different conversation; see chronic pain and hypersensitivity.
4. Is short-term relief translating into useful activity?
If a treatment makes you feel better briefly, ask how that benefit fits the broader goal. For example: “After this session, what activity should become easier, and how will we build on that?” You should understand the purpose of both hands-on treatment and active work.
A useful plan does not need to make every appointment identical. It should explain why a treatment is being used and how the next decision will be made.
If hands-on treatment or dry needling eases a symptom, ask what you can practice while movement feels more manageable. That could be a selected movement, a shorter version of a difficult task or the next stage of strength work. At review, bring what happened after you returned to normal activity. We want relief to help you rebuild the part of life that has been missing.
5. Have we changed course when progress stalled?
Repeating the same plan without discussing the result can leave you unsure what you are paying for. Ask for a review date and a clear explanation of the options: change the activity dose, revise the approach, coordinate with another clinician, or seek further evaluation.
There is no universal number of visits that proves PT has succeeded or failed. Your condition, goals, symptoms, and response should inform that judgment. Ask what a reasonable trial means in your circumstances.
Leave the review knowing these three things
- What changes now: the movement, amount, support or activity progression being adjusted.
- What you will compare: a symptom response and an everyday task that matter to you.
- What happens next: when to review the result and which changes should prompt earlier contact or medical assessment.
If the plan remains the same, ask why more time is appropriate and what improvement you are watching for. You should understand the reasoning before continuing.
6. Would another opinion help?
A second opinion may be useful if you do not understand the plan, the explanation does not fit your experience, or meaningful progress has stalled despite reassessment. Request your treatment summary and explain what you hope the next assessment will clarify. A new clinician should consider what has already been tried rather than simply restart the same process.
Look for someone with experience relevant to your concern who listens carefully and can explain their recommendations. We are happy to answer questions about how we work before you decide whether to book.
For persistent back symptoms, our back-pain second-opinion guide explains what Dr. Emily can help review. Bring a specific question: what has not changed, which movement keeps aggravating symptoms or what you still do not understand. We want the next appointment to build on your experience.
For back pain, check how assessment connects to the home plan
Exercise choice deserves a closer look. In a randomized low-back-pain trial, people whose assessment found a directional preference improved more over two weeks with matching exercises than with opposite-direction or nondirectional exercises. That finding supports checking the movement response; it does not establish one routine for everyone or a clinic success rate.
With back or leg symptoms, Dr. Emily investigates whether there is a helpful movement pattern, then checks the amount and how it fits your day. We compare selected movements with a useful starting point and ask what happens to the location of symptoms and an everyday task. A McKenzie assessment is a way to make that decision more specific, rather than assume everyone needs the same backward bend or stretch.
Where pain education fits
Your pain is real, and we want you to feel heard. When symptoms have persisted, we also discuss what makes movement feel threatening, how recovery is going and what amount of practice feels manageable. We connect that understanding with activity you can build on.
The 2021 low-back-pain clinical practice guideline recommends pain neuroscience education alongside other interventions, including exercise, for chronic low back pain. We use explanation and practice together, then check what changes for you.
For example, if a movement briefly eases pain but sitting remains unchanged, the next step may involve adjusting the exercise, modifying sitting demands or building broader capacity. Simply repeating the same session may not address the limitation.
- Identify the task you want treatment to change.
- Describe the immediate and later effects of the current program.
- Agree on one useful adjustment and how to evaluate it.
Read the back-specific reassessment guide for a focused checklist.
Frequently asked questions about stalled progress
How many physical therapy sessions should I try before reassessing?
You should understand the plan from the beginning; you do not need to finish an entire course before asking whether it is helping. At the first visit, choose a functional goal and agree on when to review it. At follow-ups, compare what you can do with your starting point and discuss what happens after the exercises.
A useful review sounds like: “Walking is easier, but sitting has not changed. What should we adjust?” If nothing meaningful is changing, ask for a reassessment now. There is no single visit count that applies to every injury or every person with persistent pain.
Is soreness after physical therapy normal?
Some unfamiliar activity can leave muscles sore, but pain is not proof that treatment is working. Describe where the symptoms are, how long they last and whether you can do less afterward. A program that repeatedly makes you worse deserves adjustment.
Pause an exercise that repeatedly leaves you worse or causes symptoms to spread, and ask your clinician to review the response. New weakness, spreading numbness or changes in bladder or bowel control are not ordinary workout soreness; use the medical guidance below.
What should be different about a second opinion?
A second opinion should answer an unresolved question, not simply restart the same exercise sheet. Bring your previous program and explain what helped, what did not and what you want treatment to change. Ask the new therapist to explain their findings and how they will test whether the new plan is useful.
At Mindful Movement, we’ll look at what your body responds to now and what has made progress difficult. We’ll practice a starting plan with you and explain how to use it at home. If something is not helping, we want to hear about it so we can work out what to change.
A practical way to explain a stalled plan
For reassessment, bring your activity goal, how long you have followed the plan, what has changed and whether symptoms travel farther. Ask which movement to adjust and when to check progress.
You should leave that conversation knowing what to continue, what to change and how you’ll review progress. You don’t need to diagnose the problem yourself to ask for a clearer plan.
What should you bring to a physical therapy second opinion?
Copy these prompts into your notes or bring them to your current therapist. A brief account is enough; you do not need perfect records.
- My goal: your main goal and one activity that still feels limited.
- My current routine: the exercises and treatments you tried, including anything that helped. Include the amount you actually did.
- What changed: the starting point and what has changed since then, including symptoms later that day or the next morning.
- My background: relevant imaging reports, surgery details or medical restrictions you already have.
- My question: your most important unanswered question.
- The next decision: what will we adjust, what will we compare and when will we review it?
For a shorter back-specific version, use our back-pain reassessment checklist. This guide explains the broader conversation; the checklist helps organize the details of a back-pain plan.
We can help you take another look at back pain or neck pain. In-person PT is in Holladay, serving Greater Salt Lake City. Prefer support at home? Virtual coaching from anywhere includes live video calls directly with the PT, an exercise program with video demonstrations and access to messaging between visits. We discuss whether coaching, clinical PT or a local examination is appropriate for your needs.
When should you seek medical attention instead?
Do not wait for a routine PT review if you develop emergency warning signs. With back pain, new bladder or bowel problems, numbness around the genitals or anus, or symptoms after a serious accident require urgent emergency assessment. New or progressive weakness also needs prompt medical advice.
For back or neck pain, prepare a clearer conversation
Bring the problem you want to solve
Whether it is getting through a workday, sleeping more comfortably or returning to exercise, we want to hear what still feels difficult. Start with the Free Case Review described below, then decide whether care fits.
Videos from Mindful Movement PT
Watch Dr. Emily explain movement topics, and bring your questions to your visit. We’ll help you decide how the ideas fit your own plan.
The prompts below are questions to discuss alongside the videos, rather than a transcript or an exercise prescription.
Pain during massage and exercise: what should we notice?
A question to bring: “How should I judge discomfort during this exercise, and what response means we should adjust it?” Include what happens afterward and whether you can do more or less.
More from Dr. Emily: sensitivity and the experience of pain
You can’t out-exercise a sensitized system
A question to bring: “Could we review the whole amount of activity and the factors making recovery difficult, as well as the exercise itself?”
Dr. Emily on the Uplift For Her podcast
A question to bring: “How can I understand my pain and build confidence without feeling that every symptom means I am causing another injury?”
About the clinician: Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT, is the owner of Mindful Movement PT. She is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, holds the McKenzie credential in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy, and is BoneFit trained.
Updated October 20, 2026. General education; an individual assessment is needed to guide your care.
Google review: Kelley B.
“She followed up consistently, made thoughtful adjustments, and kept the process moving forward. Her approach was professional, collaborative, and results-focused.”
Let’s understand why the plan has not carried over
You have already put effort into feeling better. We want to hear what that experience was like and what still gets in your way. Together, we can review your response and choose a more useful next step. You can ask about one-on-one care in Holladay or live virtual coaching with a demonstration-based exercise program and messaging support between visits.
In your Free Case Review, we’ll listen to what you want back, answer your questions and help you decide whether care with Mindful Movement fits. Send a request and we’ll contact you by phone or text to arrange a time.
Dedicated one-on-one PT with Dr. Emily Warren, DPT, Cert. MDT—McKenzie certified. No referral needed. Your first PT visit is 60 minutes for assessment, explanation and a starting plan practiced together. The Free Case Review is a conversation before care.
In-person care at our Holladay clinic, serving Greater Salt Lake City. Virtual coaching from anywhere.
Call/text (385) 332-4939.