A way to ditch the personal therapist

Alicia Robinson

“Do it yourself” is a phrase not often applied to physical therapy,

but John Lemme aims to change that.

Although Lemme’s Newport Beach business, Therapy Solutions, has

taken clients in person for six years, it is now branching out to

offer its “anatomical therapy” to clients over the Internet.

Lemme describes anatomical therapy as a “hands-off approach” that

doesn’t use heat, cold, massage or any of the techniques of

traditional physical therapy. Using an online questionnaire and

videos of exercises, people can diagnose their physical problems and

learn ways to correct them without ever seeing a therapist, he said.

“It’s really a way where people can fix themselves, fix their own

posture, fix their own pain symptoms,” he said.

Typical orthopedic therapy focuses on the symptom of the problem,

whether it’s an arthritic knee or an aching back, Lemme said, but his

method looks at how the ailing body part got out of alignment and

what the rest of the body is doing to compensate.

After diagnosis online or in person, Therapy Solutions suggests a

personalized regimen of therapeutic exercises.

“It’s hard work, because you’ve got to do those exercises every

day, but it’s so worth it,” Therapy Solutions client Julie Reilly

said. She was introduced to Lemme by her sister, who visited Therapy

Solutions for clinical therapy after hip surgery.

“The reason I went to him was because I’ve had back problems for

30 years and I’ve done everything [to relieve the pain],” Reilly

said. “I just never was getting anywhere.”

When she started working with Lemme in January, the exercises were

harder because she wasn’t as flexible as she thought, she said.

She still goes to Therapy Solutions in person, she said, but now

she also uses its Web site to do many of the exercises at her Newport

Coast home.

Lemme said he began developing his anatomical therapy method about

five years ago after he helped a client over the phone, telling her

what exercises to do.

Using what he’d seen in the clinical setting, he developed

profiles of clients and a series of questions about what types of

pain people were experiencing.

Lemme said he’s not a doctor or a physical therapist, but he has

served as director for several physical therapy clinics. He learned

the principles on which anatomical therapy is based by studying the

methods of physical therapists of the early 1900s, he said.

In September, Lemme launched online services largely aimed at

corporations that can use his services in employee wellness programs.

Through his Web site, clients can access information, including

more than 400 video clips of exercises, at any time.

He expects his business to take off because with the availability

of the Internet, doctors are no longer the only resource for medical

help. Corporations are starting to ask employees to take more

responsibility for their health, Lemme said.

Lemme said his clients don’t balk at the discipline and effort

required to follow an exercise regimen.

“Pain is the best motivator,” he said. “We see people who have

tried everything else.”