BOTKINS – Dr. Eric May has come home to Shelby County, where he developed an interest in sports performance and physical therapy as an athlete at Anna High School, to establish his practice.
May PT and Performance opened in late October and is seeing business pick up. May’s clients include high school athletes, weekend warriors and people looking to get back to doing their daily activities without pain.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “Even the people who don’t need anything I have to offer right now are super welcoming.”
Prior to opening his business at 212 W. State St. in Botkins, May worked in physical therapy in New Jersey, worked in the sports and outpatient orthopedic rehab facility at Mary Rutan Outpatient Clinic in Bellefontaine, owned a physical therapy business in Troy and Vandalia and was part-owner of a physical therapy practice in Wapakoneta.
However, his heart always was in Shelby County.
“I’m jut a big hometown-type person,” he said. “I like small towns. I like being around home.”
May’s interest in physical therapy began when he participated in it following a high school baseball injury. He went on to the University of Findlay where he played baseball and earned a doctor of physical therapy degree.
He also enjoyed athletic training from his days as a ballplayer and has incorporated that alongside physical therapy in his business as a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
About half of his clients come to May PT and Performance for physical therapy while the other half come for sports performance. Most of the sports performance clients are high school athletes – mostly from Anna, Botkins, Jackson Center and St. Marys – though he does work with some college students and kids as young as 11.
“It’s kind of a fun age because they know enough that they can do things but they’re still very impressionable at that age and you can make a lot of changes,” May said of his younger clients.
For sports performance, athletes often work in small groups, but they each have a plan that is developed specifically for them, generally focusing on speed, agility, jumping, strength and skill development.
“They have an individual assessment when they come in and then based off that whatever they need based on their sport or their goals then they have an individual program based on their needs,” May said.
Physical therapy is done in one-on-one sessions. May incorporates traditional exercises and manual therapy along with other techniques such as dry needling, cupping, tooling and blood flow restriction training.
“It’s kind of neat, but it’s also super effective,” May said of the various techniques he uses. “It’s a nice change of pace instead of just offering exercise, exercise, exercise.”
Whether he’s working in sports performance or physical therapy, May said, his favorite part of the job is building relationships with his clients.
“Being able to build relationships with people, just getting to know people, see them progress, get better and improve,” he said.
He’s been able to focus on his clients while his wife, Taylor – who is a licensed physical therapy assistant – handles administrative tasks including insurance matters and scheduling.
“I’m slowing getting in network with more insurances,” May said. “So that helps out, and it’s picking up.”
For more information about May PT and Performance, visit its website at www.mayptandperformance.com, visit the May PT and Performance Facebook page, email [email protected] or call 937-691-2004.
The business will host an open house on Feb. 21.
