Having developed soreness in my right elbow which was causing problems with gripping things, I realised that I was suffering from Tennis Elbow. This condition can make your life a misery as it inhibits a number of everyday actions and causes significant pain. Even pulling a plug out of a socket or tightening a lid on a jar had become very painful. Playing my piano also didn’t help.

I thought it is strange that I would get this condition as I don’t play tennis. A fanatical swimmer, yes. Racquet sports, no. Golfers also get a similar condition – called, of course, ‘Golfers’ Elbow’. Confirmation by the GP that it was Tennis Elbow and a recommendation that physiotherapy would certainly improve and possibly cure the condition meant a trip to see Gal. The improvement over a number of weeks has been startling.

Manipulation, strengthening exercises and Ultra-Sound have all contributed to a significant advance in mobility and reduction in pain. The alternative is a steroid injection and worse than that, surgery – two options both best avoided where possible.

Gal brings a wealth of expertise to his treatment clearly explaining the path to recovery and just how physiotherapy helps. As a clinician, he is a great example of a caring medical professional with a vast understanding of his specialism who is passionate about getting you back to full fitness again.

My name is Sean Fontana and I am an athlete, competing in middle and long distance events i.e. 800m, 1500m races and also cross country races during the winter. I have currently left the Glasgow School of Sport where I trained and raced for 4 years. Now I am running for Victoria Park City of Glasgow City AC. I have represented Scotland on several occasions, however I got a major injury to my back which stopped my rib cage expanding properly and keeping my torso upright whilst i was racing.

This was detrimental to my performance; I was running with extreme back pain and also not progressing in my running times. I knew I had to get an expert’s opinion on the symptoms because my performances on the racing circuits were dropping drastically - that was when my coach recommended Gal to help me get back to fitness.

Gal gave me one to one physiotherapy and also came to watch my running. I was progressing at a fast rate as Gal not only was hands on but he gave me exercises to take away with me to do on my own to fully benefit from the physio session. I started running really well again feeling fast and strong, I recovered my season by running a personal best in the 800m going from 1min58.9 Sec to 1min56.88 Sec (!) and in 1500m from 4min01.7sec to 3min57.3 sec !

He also made me understand why my back was sore and told me the reason why. Gal's knowledge is unquestionable. He does not mind you asking why he is doing a certain exercise with you because Gal feels that if you ask questions you are listening and interested about why the injury occurred, which will help you recover faster.

When it came to the point where severe shoulder pain had stopped me training and was affecting everyday activities and my sleep, I decided to seek advice from Gal. He quickly identified a number of issues with weakness and instability round my shoulder blade which had resulted in rotator cuff dysfunction.

Treatment was a combination of manipulations, taping, ultrasound, massage and myofacial release. In addition, Gal encouraged me to be an active participant in my recovery, taking the time to explain the issues and giving me exercises to target specific areas of weakness. Through careful mentoring he was able to tailor the treatment in response to my progress.

Gal’s passion for his profession is clearly evident in both his clinical practice and his continuing professional development. Having invested in this course of physiotherapy I am now pain free and have a greater awareness and understanding of how my body functions inside and outside the gym.

I was suffering from restrictive movement in my shoulder with pain when moved in certain directions. Butterfly was the biggest problem area for me as that movement of lifting my hand straight up was resulting in intense shoulder pain.

Gal identified weaknesses in my shoulder brought on by two things. One, as a swimmer we tend to favour certain muscles, they dominate our shoulder weakening the less used muscles. The second area was an old long forgotten injury from my teen years where I ripped my deltoid.

The Shockwave therapy worked on the old injury and Gal's physio and exercises worked on the weak muscles. After the first session I felt the difference, by the end of five sessions I was well on my way to recover, swimming butterfly again without pain.

Around two years ago I seriously injured a leg muscle while running and tore a hamstring. I went to an NHS and an independent Physiotherapist, both of whom failed to diagnose underlying problems or listen properly. After a year I developed severe lower back, as well as hamstring and adductor pain in both legs.

At the end of January 2011 I saw Gal. He properly assessed my injuries and he refused to let me leave until he felt confident in his diagnosis. Gal quickly recognised I had critically weak leg muscles and that I am hypermobile. Here, my muscles have to work harder to keep my limbs in place. But, as I didn’t have much muscle, my tendons were doing their job, and I developed tendonitis and strains. No other physiotherapist had noticed this.

Gal explain in depth the biomechanics of my physiology and he provided detailed instructions on the exercises that would help rebuild my muscle strength. He has continued to assess and test my muscle strength as well as reassess my physiology at each meeting.

It is now several months on from that first appointment and I am now pain free and looking forward to running again. I continue to be impressed by his professional skills and I am grateful for his advice and support.

As much as going to the physio means that there is something wrong, I do actually enjoy and look forward to going to see Gal Kantor Physiotherapy. I have been to many physios in the past and never come across one as good as Gal. From my very first assessment now around 4 years ago, Gal was quick to pick up on issues that had been overlooked by others meaning the problems were fixed in a very quick time (usually only 1 or 2 visits).

Gal is clearly passionate about physiotherapy, and continual professional development and is highly professional in his approach to treatments, he delivers his practices in a non-intimidating manner and explains in detail what he is doing and why he is doing it.

As a Pilates teacher, spin instructor and personal trainer I need my body to work efficiently. Over the years I have had problems with my hip, knee, and shoulder, as well as pins and needles in my feet and numbness in my arms. All were quickly assessed, diagnosed and appropriate taping, manipulation, and exercises to do at home were given.

I have sent many of my own clients along to Gal for treatment and they too have been impressed with the professionalism of the treatment and the added benefit that I can then add in the exercises they have been prescribed to their training programmes and into the class sessions.