Our vision is to deliver the absolute highest quality patient-centered care available for people in Lee’s Summit and the surrounding suburbs, focused on helping people relieve pain, if present, and continue doing or return to doing the things they need, want, and love to do.

Ascent Physical Therapy started as a way to give more to my patients, to give them the care that they deserve. In today’s healthcare economy, providers have to keep cutting time and quality of the care they provide to keep their doors open. In turn, this has increased the number of times patients have to be seen to improve. Even worse, it might limit how much they may improve.

I have seen so many clinics pop up who have their therapists see 3-5 patients AT A TIME! I don’t think that’s good quality care and think my patients deserve better. If you aren’t being seen one on one by a Doctor of Physical Therapy for your whole appointment, you will very likely not get as good as quickly as you could.

At Ascent PT, you can expect high quality, compassionate care focused on you and your goals. You will only be seen by me, a Doctor of Physical Therapy.. With the type of care I can provide in this setting, I can help my patients get better, usually requiring fewer visits than I (or anyone else) could in another type of outpatient setting. This helps save my patients money, but also very valuable time that should be spent doing the things they love to do!

Dr. Erik Pohlman, PT, DPT

I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy practicing in an outpatient orthopedic setting. This means I get to treat patients with all sorts of issues limiting them in their daily activities. These could include things like muscle weakness and balance problems. These could include chronic pain, fibromyalgia, neck pain, back pain, and whiplash. They also include sports injuries, strains and sprains, and even pre- and post-operative cases. In such a setting, I have to be prepared to treat almost every body part, but the part of the body I am treating doesn’t matter nearly as much as the person I am treating.

One of my specialties is helping older adults continue to do the things they love as they age. Through strength and balance work, I have seen so many people get back to doing things like golfing, walking, even getting on and off the floor to play with their grandkids. I have also helped people who were in danger of having to move out of their home and into assisted living be able to ‘age in place’ in their home with the restoration of their ability to perform their daily activities and reduce the risk of falling.

I am constantly pursuing knowledge and skills that improve the quality of care I can provide, keeping up on the best current evidence to ensure I am providing the best value of care for my patients. I am a Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist, which has significantly improved my skill in applying therapy through touch, whether that includes joint mobilization, joint manipulation, soft tissue massage, or other such treatments.

I also utilize the Associative Awareness Technique, a unique approach intended to reduce or eliminate pain. It is especially effective at treating more chronic pain or pain caused by a hypersensitive nervous system, such as fibromyalgia or whiplash.

I also sometimes utilize dry needling, a technique utilizing thin filiform needles to target pain and movement limitations.

On a personal note, I have enjoyed rock climbing for almost two decades, which even led me to become a physical therapist through a series of my own injuries. I have been golfing for a few years and love the game, even though I am still terrible at it. I also get to enjoy my time off with my lovely wife, our two children, and our dog.