"I fractured my shoulder and as it healed, I ended up with a frozen
shoulder. I tried regular PT plus massage to release the knots that I
believed were causes part of my problem. Dr. Drew recommended Dr.
Farouk. Said he has this way of combining PT and manual manipulation
that she felt I needed. She was right. I have made significant
improvement in a matter of a few short weeks. I will tell anyone who
needs PT to see Dr. Farouk."
- Cindy
"After my shoulder surgery, I could hardly extend my forearm. During
each visit with Dr. Farouk, I became gradually more mobile. He also gave
me specific exercises to do when I was at home. After eight weeks of
visits, my forearm can be fully extended, and I have full range of
motion in my shoulder. I recommend Dr. Farouk to everyone I know."
- Sharif
"Welcome to Farouk's House of Pain, and trust me, you will feel 100
percent better but it is going to hurt. A lot.
I am an ultrarunner, which means at any point something is likely to be
injured. For me it was my hip. Farouk is also an ultrarunner (and a
badass one at that) so I figured he would not be one to tell me I had to
stop running to get better. Several of my runner friends have gone to
him with great results so I figured it was time to take my turn at the
House of Pain.
Farouk spent a great deal of time on his initial assessment and and then
went to work making me scream and cry. He's tough, with what he calls a
very aggressive treatment style, that will feel in no way pleasant. But
yes, this is not a spa massage, its physical therapy, and PT that works
isn't supposed to be carefree and easy.
Farouk is an expert. I don't doubt for a second that I'm getting top
notch treatment. His assistant is cheerful and the clinic is always
spotless.
Expect to spend about 2 hours for your first appointment and an hour and
a half for each appointment there after. Each appointment will involve
time with Farouk and time working through an exercise program catered to
your treatment. I did two appointments a week for about 4 weeks and am
amazed how great I feel.
Access Physical Therapy is in Fairfax City. It's easy to get to (by car)
with plenty of parking."
- Sara
"Dr. Farouk is amazing. I had a frozen shoulder and my orthopedic
surgeon said it would be at least 6 months of PT. If it didn't return,
he could perform surgery to unstick it. Farouk took care of it within 2
months! He unstuck the shoulder! I thought I was going to throw up when
he did it, but within minutes I had full range of motion! I went back a
few times after that but I was healed. Please know, this practice is not
for the faint of heart or those who want to be babied. This is a
practice for those who want to be healed and do not want their insurance
milked! It's going to hurt but you will like it. Thank you Dr. Farouk!"
- Raisa
"Dr Farouk is truly the only physical therapist I trust. Yes, he is
nicknamed the "house of pain" BUT he fixes the problem and you end of
feeling a billion times better. I saw Dr FarouK last spring because o
was having issues w scar tissue from an ankle Surgery. He was able to
break down the scar tissue so it no longer bothers me. I also pulled a
muscle in a very sensitive area. He was able to fix me up so I could
continue to run. I 100% recommend this practice. It's not a bunch of
fluff but he fixes you up! I trust him."
- Jess
"I am NOT a runner. I am a "crooked, old lady" as Farouk put it when he
met me. Farouk has treated me for disintegrating discs, total knee
replacement and tendonitis. He has an irreverent sense of humor which
may be what Yohannes T complained about, but which I enjoy. More to the
point, Farouk's therapy is stellar. His result are consistent. One woman
I met there said her doctor offered her a cortisone shot in her back or
physical therapy. She chose the shot. When that didn't work, she tried
Farouk and her pain was gone."
- Cindy
"I have been a runner for 32 years so naturally I am intimately
acquainted with nearly every overuse injury known to mankind. What this
gets me is knowledge of more names and locations of body parts than will
ever apply to my regular everyday life.
It also gets me expert status as someone who can tell who is and who is
not a good physical therapist. Trust me on this.
I cannot count the number of PTs I've been to over the years but I
assure you I've seen it all. Young and inexperienced; experienced but
hands-off; indifferent and rote; lovely but ineffective. You want none
of these.
What you want is Dr. Farouk.
Access PT is the single-provider practice of Dr. Farouk Elkassed. Dr.
Farouk has been in the business for a very long time. He is experienced,
hands-on, effective, and keenly attentive to each of his patient's
therapeutic needs. When I say he is singular in the field I am grossly
understating it.
While finding yourself in a physical therapist's office is never a happy
moment, having access to the kind of care Dr. Farouk provides is a pure
windfall. After a number of years in his care, I am still discovering
the many reasons why he is so successful at what he does. His skill as a
PT is comprehensive. His own personal background in a number of
disciplines to include massage therapy, body building, distance running,
and athletic training must surely inform his keen diagnostic ability, as
well as the creativity with which he approaches evidence-based
therapeutic solutions for each patient.
My first foray into Dr. Farouk's care was with iliotibial band syndrome,
which presented (in my case) as a lot of pain on the outside of the
knee. I went from logging long training runs for road marathons to not
being able to run more than a mile without coming to a screeching
(screaming?) halt. Anybody with ITBS can relate. Dr. Farouk aggressively
applied deep tissue massage onto my IT band which I won't sugar coat:
hurt like a son of a gun. But in no time, voila! I was cured of a
problem I'd had for a long time.
After the IT band problem I continued to see Dr. Farouk for a number of
lesser injuries, all of which he healed quickly. Recently, however, I
showed up at his office with my biggest challenge yet: tendinosis of the
proximal hamstring, not where you want your hamstring to hurt due to the
relative lack of blood supply to that area. Little blood means lots of
time and manual manipulation to coax the healing process: all around no
fun at all. But oddly, aside from the stretching and deep tissue Dr.
Farouk applied to my ham (during which I practiced my Lamaze breathing),
I actually had a lot of fun at his office. He nurtures a very familial,
neighborhood-like atmosphere in his clinic. Most patients become friends
with each other because of the open character of the setting.
Conversation flows freely and the tone in the clinic room is one of
support, encouragement, and amusement. I have to think this is no
accident and exactly what Dr. Farouk wants for his patients because how
much better the body must heal when it's happy and optimistic!
This recent rehab for me was nothing short of a miracle. I honest to
goodness thought I would never run again. I slept on the floor at night
(if I slept at all) and I was able to drive 5 minutes tops before
succumbing to pain in my rear. It was not about running again for me. It
was about living. Today, thanks to Dr. Farouk, I am able to sleep in a
bed, drive for hours at a time, and run my ultra trail runs with a
gratitude that is impossible to describe."
- Stephanie