SOL Santa Cruz

My 80+ year-old Dad's life has been changed by Dr. Chris' regime of physical therapy and home exercises.

Over the past fifty years, Dad has had other Physical Therapists but none that resulted in him following through with the home exercises.

Discussing this as a family, we think it is partly because Dr. Chris sent him home with adult-type exercises involving apparatuses used for resistance and body weight exercises that they worked through at the office sessions.

Dr. Chris gave him a pulley system that hooked to a closed door and two types of bands. These are Dad's to keep.

Also included is a website login that Dad uses to log his reps. The site shows videos of all the exercises he has been assigned to do that week.

The other piece is that he greatly enjoys how Dr. Chris works out with him. His encouragement and positivity is highly motivating.

Everyone at the office has been warm, kind, and upbeat. My parents love the vibe.

Chris Taquino is simply the best PT in Santa Cruz. Having had various injuries and surgeries over the course of my 25 years of living there, I was sent to just about every PT clinic in town. While many of the corporate-run and healthcare system-associated 'PT mills' had some very nice, knowledgeable people in them, they cannot give the same 1-on-1 care that Chris does. SOL is not a clinic where you will get a 'different exercise therapist' every time. There is ONE really good one. Chris is a master PT who knows quite a few modalities and is constantly upping his knowledge base. He works on you himself. EVERY TIME you go in. I no longer live in SC, but felt compelled to write this review because a good friend recently asked me 'Who would you go to as an older person having knee surgery?' I told her the truth: 'The ONLY person I'd send you to is Chris at SOL. Period.' He is the real thing, not just a clever business model. He is also a singularly nice young man.

Fixed it!

I received excellent treatment from Chris Taquino and staff. It is wonderful to work with a professional who listens, is knowledgeable, personable and responsive.

After each session, I received emails containing videos of the exercises I was to do. They were extremely helpful - sometimes you forget after leaving the doctor's office - the videos were awesome.

Highly recommend Chris Taquino and am so grateful my doctor referred me to SOL Santa Cruz.

I've been to four physical therapists in Santa Cruz County over the years, and my experience with Chris Taquino has by far been the best. After assessing my problem, he created a treatment plan for me without simply plugging me into a pre-conceived agenda. He's an excellent listener, does a fair amount of hands-on work (unlike most PT in my experience), was realistic with me about my prospects for full recovery (questionable in my case), and prepared a small but focussed set of exercises for my situation.

Dr. Karen and her team are top notch. I came here to finish healing from an injury and start strengthening again. After a few months I am pretty much back to normal, the pain/discomfort is gone and I'm back to running twice a week with no problems. Dr. Karen is knowledgeable, intuitive and caring. The Pilates therapist Carissa has also been an important part of my recovery. Am grateful for them and highly recommend them!

What an amazing place for wellness! Chris is an extremely knowledgeable physical therapist who understands sports injuries. He's a terrific listener and problem-solver. The home exercises are sent via a very easy to follow app on your phone. His team is organized and thorough. I highly recommend SOL Santa Cruz for your injury recovery!

SOL in Santa Cruz is top notch for PT and I *highly* recommend going there. I worked with Chris Taquino twice a week for several months. Here is what he's done for me:

#1 - Four weeks before a 50-mile ultramarathon, my IT band was out of control in pain. So much it hurt to walk up stairs. In just 4 weeks, Chris worked his shaman magic and not only did I finish the 50-miler, but I haven't had any IT band issues since. He knows how our bodies are supposed to work and quickly targets the weakest link.

#2 - Two months after the 50-miler and recovering naturally, I developed some tenderness underneath both knees. I could barely run 2-3 miles before it would flair up. Back to working with Chris and in just 3 weeks, I set off to run the Death Valley marathon and had an unexpected decent time of 4hr38min. I took it a bit easy not knowing how my knees would hold up... long story short, not once did my knees hurt and they STILL don't weeks after that race. I feared I was going to be out of commission for months... and now I'm back to signing up for races!

I've been to other PT places where they just target the symptom. Chris knows his stuff, spends the time to understand your activities, and works backwards to find the root cause(s) of the problems at hand. He put together a regimen of Graston, ART, IF, light therapy, and targeted stretch plans that in the right combination move mountains.

Worth every resource to get your PT done at SOL Santa Cruz and esp with Chris.

Dr. Roitz helped me get over tendonitis in my shoulders and hip caused by swimming. I really liked that her goal was to get me back to activity as soon as possible. She supports Crossfit, which isn't always true of healthcare professionals.

Chris Taquino, Doctor of Physical Therapy is a wizard! Here's the short version of the miraculous healing he orchestrated for me. Of course he will just call it science, but there have been plenty of licensed folks over the past 15 years who didn't pinpoint and solve my aching legs. The serious leg pain was at the point where my calves were so tight all the time I could barely walk 1/2 block before I had to stop to let the pain subside. I'd had massage and plenty of it, I'd been Rolfed, my MD had ordered ultrasound for possible atherosclerosis. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Here I am only 65 years old, and I can't go for a walk on the beach, and no one can help me. They just throw up their hands.

In talking on the phone with an Ayurvedic practitioner in Denver, who recommended trying Active Release Technique, I finally found Dr Chris Taquino at SOL Santa Cruz. And within 4 sessions I am tromping the beaches and forests again! I'm crying with happiness, relief and release and I want to tell everyone about this miracle worker! I sent my husband to him who has been suffering since he was 20 from a motorcycle accident, and also had old crippling pain. We both thought we would suffer with our disabilities to the grave. Not true, just go see Chris! He'll get you dancing again. And everyone on the staff is friendly, compassionate and caring too.

Wow, Brandon is a badass. I came in here with some muscle pain on my left that was impacting my sports performance while bicycle riding. Brandon quickly figured out everything and began by doing a lot of massage and then some electric shock therapy and also performing "adjustments" to my vertebrae with his pure physical strength. After each appointment I felt better and better and almost recovered fully for an important bike race.