Phoenix, AZ · The staff
Dr. Ryan Spencer
He is a board-certified Orthopedic Specialist, which means the stubborn joint cases, the tendons that have been sore for months, and the necks and backs that have already been looked at once tend to land on his schedule.
The specialist other clinicians ask.
Dr. Ryan Spencer is the Director of Leadership and Clinical Mentorship here, which is the formal way of saying he is the one the rest of the staff walks a difficult case past. He holds the OCS, the board certification in orthopedic physical therapy, and that credential is earned after the doctorate rather than inside it: it takes clinical hours in orthopedics and a specialty board exam on top of a license that already lets you practice.
What that buys a patient is mostly patience with detail. Board-level orthopedic work is the discipline of testing one structure at a time until the story stops being a guess. A knee that hurts on stairs and a knee that hurts on the way down from a squat are usually two different problems wearing the same description, and the point of the evaluation is to find out which one is sitting in front of you before anything gets prescribed.
Most people who end up on his schedule have already had a scan, a rest period, and an explanation that did not quite fit what they were feeling. They are not difficult patients. They are patients whose problem has not been named accurately yet.
He also holds the CSCS, so the strength half of a plan is written by someone who programs load for a living rather than by someone borrowing a handout. Away from the clinic he is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, which gives him a working relationship with the shoulders, necks and hips that grappling finds first. In 2019 Midwestern University named him its Most Outstanding Clinical Instructor.
What Dr. Spencer treats.
Orthopedics is broad on purpose. These are the pages his caseload lands on most weeks.
Joint pain
The joint that has been aching long enough to feel normal, tested structure by structure until the cause has a name.
02Shoulder pain
Rotator cuff, overhead range, and the shoulder that only complains in one specific position.
03Hip and knee pain
Stairs, squats, and the load tolerance that has to be rebuilt before either stops being a decision.
04Neck pain
Necks that stiffened around a desk or a collision, and the mid-back that is usually part of the reason.
05Tendinitis
Tendons respond to load, not to rest alone, and the dose is the whole treatment. Getting it right takes testing.
06Manual therapy
Hands-on work on the joint that will not move, so the strength work has range to build into.
07Spinal manipulation
One tool inside a plan for a segment that has stopped sharing the work, never the plan by itself.
The credential line.
Book the evaluation with Dr. Spencer.
Put it in writing.
Five short questions. A real person calls you back, usually within two business hours, with times that fit your week.
The people who end up filling this out are rarely in the worst pain of their life. They’re just done working around it, done picking the errand that doesn’t require the stairs. If that’s the stage you’re at, this is the part where you stop researching and start.
Consider it filed.
A real person will call you back, usually within two business hours, with appointment times that fit your week. Keep your phone nearby.
Can’t wait? Call (602) 755-3138 ⟶Easy to find. Easy to park.
In the neighborhood, with parking by the door. Come see the place before you commit, if you like.
The clinic · Streamline Performance Physical Therapy
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