Advance Physical Therapy

I’m sure Dr. Ching is very smart and capable. unfortunately this business is small and whoever they have in charge of the phone and scheduling is horrible.
After my first call, I was told I would be called back to confirm if they take my insurance, and no one ever called back.
I ended up going to the first appointment anyway and paid out of pocket.
The studio in Sunnyvale was very small, and Dr. Ching handed me off to a young assistant after doing a brief evaluation. The assistant didn’t seem capable of evaluating my response to the stretches he recommended, and so I left disappointed.
I called back for a follow up because my back began to get worse and I didn’t want to start over with another therapist yet, and the person on the phone didn’t seem to know which doctor was available when.
She again said she would call me back and never did.
I tried to call a third time and asked to see the doctor asap. I was given a time for an appointment, and then asked which doctor I wanted to see. when I said the same one, I was put on hold and eventually told that the doctor I originally saw wouldn’t be available for weeks.
I give up.

Last September 2014, I underwent surgery to repair a massive rotator cuff tear and biceps tendon tear. It was extremely frustrating to suffer a severe injury of this nature again. Being an active person, I was uncertain of where this what this would mean for me going forward. Would I be able to get back my shoulder and arm back to where it once was? Would I have to give all sports up?
Enter Dr. Alton Ching. After months of physical therapy, Dr. Ching helped me get back to my active lifestyle. Throughout the course of PT, he took special care in treating the tissue surrounding my shoulder to get the motions and movements back to where it needed to be. He explained in detail the purposes of the treatment and what needed to be accomplished. In addition, a customized exercise plan was developed to focus on getting back the range of motion and strength.
I am extremely happy to say that I’m back now running, biking, lifting weights, playing basketball and tennis. My shoulder has been pain free, and I’m getting back more and more of my strength everyday.
Another positive was that Dr. Ching and Michelle kept everything positive and motivated during every step of the process. This is huge for anyone that has gone through a rehabilitative process, and knows of the long ordeal of getting back to whole.
I would recommend Dr. Ching in a heartbeat!

Dr. Alton Ching and Michelle are the best! I’ve seen many PTs over the years, but they were the only ones that could get me any relief for my lower back/​leg pain.
Great staff, great facility! Highly recommend it.

I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee. Dr. Ching and Jenny have been wonderful in their care and helping me recover fast. I’ve been to other places, and this is the best I’ve been to.

I’ve now seen Dr. Ching for a couple of different problems — back and neck areas. I’ve been really happy with his therapy — he not only explains everything, helping me to understand the causes of my problems, but he also provides exercises to do at home and useful tips to help prevent a repetition of the problem. His gentle probing and stretching makes a difference, too. My internist had urged me to go to Dr. Ching for years, and I am sorry it took me as long as it did because he is far superior to anyone else that I have seen in the past,

Dr Ching is an excellent physical therapist.
My husband is trying to recover after really serious neck surgery with this therapy office.
It has been already a year since we started coming to Dr Chin’s office. My husband is having pretty good progress. His legs became stronger, his walking more stabled.
I’m so happy we found this place!

Thanks guys for helping!

I’m writing as a physical therapy aide intern. Dr. Ching and his staff are very knowledgeable and influential. If you’re able to be an aide at this clinic then consider yourself lucky. Get ready for some hands on experience!

I injured my thumb while moving my computer around at work. After months of trying to fix it myself and having it only get worse, I took some advice from my doctor, and started looking for a physical therpaist. I chose Advance Physical Therapy based on reviews here, and was not disappointed. In a few short weeks of seeing Dr. Ching, the mobility in my thumb has vastly improved, and it is nearly pain free. I am really hopeful that it will be better and stronger than before the injury soon. I am only sorry I waited so long!

Dr Ching seriously rocks. I had to have physical therapy to prepare for Major Corrective Jaw Surgery, and had therapy with him in October 09 for about 1.5 months, then again in May 10 for a few weeks (as I was heading in for surgery in August). This wont be my only review as I am yet to go back to him for my ‘proper’ therapy, which is post –surgical therapy. The PT i had with him so far has been to ‘calm things down’ enough for me to even have the surgery, and he sure did that. I was, and still am, deaiing with a complicated case with my jaw. It had grown again suddenly on the right side at age 23, and took 2 years to burn out. This was thought to be due to stopping the pill after being on since it was 10. (yes, 10, my doctor at the time did not have a clue and thought this was best for me).
Obviously, my bones didn’t grow properly as i was about to discover in 06 when my problems started with my jaw. Its hard to put the whole story down here, because its VERY lengthy.
But, basically, this is the order it went in.
First problem: bone started to grow on right side — mild, but rapid. This pushed everything over to my left and caused extreme pressure on the entire left TMJ.
Second problem: This cause me to have a severe lock of the left jaw joint at one point, early 06.
Third problem: My bite started to shift to the left and just go completely messed up and very assymetric. As did my jaw.
4^th problem: Due to the pressure from the right, and the messed up bite now occuring, I ended up in pain in my entire left side and ended up with a displaced disc that was stuck so far forward it wouldn’t go back on its own. This caused a TON of pain. And alot of it was nerve pain. OUCH. Sharp, burning, you name it
5^th problem: Pain then caused muscle and jaw spasms on the left and clicking in the right.
6^th problem: The pain then caused more bite problems as I was avoiding my left to get away from it. Vicious cycle.
I spent over 2 years with a pain management doc, (Dr Moncada, AWESOME) trying to get me ready to just have braces put on. I needed Jaw surgery to correct my bite. Braces weren’t going to cut it. But, I was in this cycle of pain. So I needed the pain doc, (who is an orofacial pain specialist, I lucked out big time) the necessary drugs, and PT to get my to surgery. I was in SUCH pain I thought surgery would not be possible for a long time at least. I went to 1 PT for a few months and it didnt help at all. it was one of those types of PT’s where you go and go and go, but are still not quite sure what they actually ‘did’. you know? and you don’t get any better. They massage here and there, but never quite do ‘anything’.
Dr Ching was way different. Lets just say, that even though this is a progressive review, and I will be posting another one once I am cleared to start my rehab from jaw surgery which was 7 weeks ago, that, my jaw calmed down tons, as did my neck. He understood he had to treat both, not just the one tiny area, like the other PT’s did. He knows the TMJ extremely well. and its so hard to find a good TMJ PT.
the spasms stopped. he could touch my left joint on the outside without it hurting. I could drive a long distance without my neck spazing up. and my neck was spazing up BECAUSE I had such an unstable jaw and bite. So… a man who can acheive all this even though I needed compulsory surgery to fix the actual problem, I think thats huge. I mean, to help someone who hasnt even had the surgery yet, who had a jaw and bite as messed up as mine… I can only look forward to the day I can start PT with him now that my jaw and bite has been fixed. I anticipate great results to get me out of this 4 year pain cycle my bite has put me in. Go to him, you wont regret it. and hes easy to talk too as well. By the way, and granted, yes I wasnt chewing cos that worsened my pain, it took 8 months of not seeing him for the pain to get bad again. and I think thats awesome.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Ching now for about 10 months. Prior to that, I went through dozens of rounds of PT in several different clinics in several different towns. Dr. Ching is hands down the best! I have severe chronic back pain, and Dr. Ching single handedly got me through a very challenging pregnancy, during which he was the only person I would have trusted to do manual manipulation on my back. He is very caring and incredibly knowledgeable, I wouldn’t go to anyone else.

Returning to the Bay Area from abroad with lower back pain, my physician recommended Dr. Ching for physical therapy. Although it was slightly more distant for me than some other options, it was well worth the extra effort. I went initially to the San Carlos office, where they went above and beyond the call helping sort out my federal worker’s comp. benefits; and after taking a job in the South Bay, I went to (this) the Sunnyvale office. The have a clean, simple and well equipped gym area with plenty of space. When I began physical therapy, Alton was particularly diligent: requesting & reading over the MRI, and explaining my condition (including a couple of important points that I had missed or maybe hadn’t understood when the injury was diagnosed). I would say that the biggest thing to be aware of is, like any medical professional, he keeps busy, so make good use of your the sessions (he’s happy to answer even exercise questions unrelated to my injury or explain the rationale as he builds up or varies my routine). My injury happened almost a full year and a half before I was able to see Alton, so I have a good idea of what it was like to just live with the symptoms, and now have made good progress stabilizing the area around the injury, building up the strength of other muscles to compensate, and substantially reducing the pain. If you’re in a similar situation, with an injury or pain that make life harder pretty much daily, but less than something that warrants surgery, strongly consider talking to Alton and discussing how he could help you and what your physical therapy options may be.

Dr. Alton Ching opened his second practice in Sunnyvale this week. Now South Bay folks don’t have to drive as far to see him! See my previous review for him in San Carlos (
) for more details about him and his expertise.