Hi, I'm Dr. Adam Van Nortwick — glad you found us. Here's what we do and how we can help.
Built to get you back to life and sport — not just out of pain.
Most PT chases the symptom. We look for the movement pattern behind it — the compensation your body built to work around a limitation — and correct that. Post-surgical recovery, chronic pain, weekend athletes, or a return-to-sport plan: same standard, one-on-one, every time.
Built around one patient at a time, not a schedule to fill
Cash-pay means no insurance company decides how long your visit is or how many you're allowed. Since opening Valley PT & Sports Performance in 2024, every visit has run on 13 years of clinical experience — one-on-one with Dr. Van Nortwick for the entire visit — care that's never split between a PT and a tech who's also responsible for other patients.
Identify Abnormal Movement
A full movement assessment finds the compensation pattern behind the pain — not just where it hurts today.
Treat the Cause
Dry needling, Postural Restoration® (PRI®) movement retraining, fascial manipulation, and Class IV laser therapy — matched to what's actually driving the problem.
Build Resilience
The goal is a body that holds up under real life — training, work, sport — not just relief that fades in a week.
Dr. Adam Van Nortwick, PT, DPT, PRC
Treating patients since 2013, PRI® certified, dry-needling certified, and a former Division I collegiate runner — I opened Valley PT to practice the way I always believed care should work: one patient, one hour, every time.
Physical therapy & sports performance, Harrisonburg VA
The techniques behind every treatment plan — matched to what's actually driving your specific problem.
Dry Needling
Deactivates myofascial trigger points and loosens or frees up fascial restrictions that stretching alone doesn't change.
Learn more →Postural Restoration® (PRI)
Hands-on techniques and specifically prescribed exercises that correct postural patterns and muscle imbalances — the kind that don't show up on an MRI but drive the pain anyway.
Learn more →Soft Tissue Mobilization
Stecco Fascial Manipulation® to address tightness and compensatory movement restrictions.
Learn more →Class IV Laser Therapy
Accelerates tissue healing and reduces inflammation — most patients notice change within 3–5 sessions.
Learn more →Sports Performance Training
Individualized programs that close the same weaknesses that cause injury and limit performance.
Home Exercise Portal & Videos
No generic handouts — every program comes with video demonstrations of your exact exercises, accessible anytime from your phone.
What actually brings people in
Orthopedic and sports-related, mostly — with a specialty in return-to-running programs.
Orthopedic Injury & Post-Surgical Rehab
Full recovery plans for joint replacements, surgical repairs, and general orthopedic injuries.
Learn more →Back & Neck Pain
Movement-based treatment that addresses the mechanical cause, not just the sore spot.
Learn more →Shoulder Pain
Rotator cuff issues, impingement, frozen shoulder, and general instability.
Learn more →Knee, Ankle & Foot
Meniscus tears, ligament injuries, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinopathy, and ankle sprains.
Learn more →Arthritis & Tendinopathy
Osteoarthritis and chronic tendon irritation, addressed at the mechanical root.
Learn more →Sports Injuries
Not just running — tennis, golf, weightlifting, and team sports overuse and return-to-play.
Learn more →Headaches
Cervicogenic and tension-type headaches tied to postural and movement patterns.
Learn more →Dizziness & Vertigo
Vestibular evaluation and treatment — including fascial manipulation — grounded in the same neurological framework behind PRI®.
Learn more →Return-to-Running Programs
Our specialty — a structured path back to full mileage, grounded in gait and movement analysis.
Learn more →One standard of care, whatever brought you in
Post-Surgical & Injury Recovery
Structured rehab after surgery or injury, built around your actual timeline and goals.
Chronic & General Orthopedic Pain
Back, neck, shoulder, hip, and knee pain — treated at the mechanical root, not just the symptom.
Runners & Endurance Athletes
Our specialty. See The Runner's Doc for running-specific resources and virtual consults.
What patients say after working with us
I tore my meniscus on a run and struggled with on-and-off knee pain for almost four years. I had resigned to pain just being part of my running journey. Adam watched me run and diagnosed the issue in our consultation, and the pain resolved quickly. I finished a 50k completely pain free and kept training for my 100 mile race.
Adam has been so helpful to both my husband and I. We were thankful to talk to someone who actually understood our issues holistically and provided plans that were tailor-made for us, rather than a cookie-cutter solution. He was patient and thorough walking us through exercises, and we were both amazed to see results almost immediately.
It has taken me a decade to find a top-notch, 1-on-1 expert PT in Harrisonburg — one who understands the rigor and nuance of the human body in sports performance at the elite level — and Adam is THE guy. His deep commitment to research and quality whole-patient care is one of a kind, and he executes a thoughtful plan that has you returning independently in a short period of time.
Five things every visit is built on
GRACE is our set of core values — the filter every decision in this practice runs through, from how we treat a patient to how we run the business.
Growth
For the patient and the practice.
Relationships
You're a person, not a chart.
Attention
One-on-one, the full visit.
Care
Clinically sound, genuinely kind.
Education
You'll know why, not just what.
Practical tips, straight from the clinic
Want to understand why your body hurts and what's actually driving it? Our YouTube channel is built around one idea — most people don't get better because nobody has explained the real problem. From Postural Restoration concepts to PT tips and tricks to step-by-step exercise demonstrations, every video is designed to give you clarity on the causes of pain and what you can do to start feeling better immediately.
Stop Stretching Your Tight Hamstrings
Think your tight hamstrings just need more stretching? Think again. In this video Dr. Adam Van Nortwick, PT, DPT, PRC breaks down why chronic hamstring tightness is often a compensation pattern and demonstrates the Postural Restoration exercise that actually fixes it.
Hip Pain at Night? Sleeping Positions
The way you sleep could be making your hip pain significantly worse. In this video Dr. Adam Van Nortwick, PT, DPT, PRC walks through the best and worst sleeping positions for hip pain and the simple adjustments that can make an immediate difference.
Before you book
Do you accept insurance?
No — Valley PT is a cash-pay, out-of-network practice. That's what makes the one-on-one, full-visit model possible: no insurance company deciding how long your appointment is or how many you're allowed. If you have out-of-network benefits, you're welcome to check with your insurance about reimbursement on your own.
Will I actually work with Dr. Van Nortwick every visit?
Every visit, every time — never handed off to an assistant or tech managing several patients at once. That's the whole point of the model.
How is this different from a typical physical therapy clinic?
Most clinics are structured around seeing as many patients as insurance reimbursement allows, which usually means less time with your actual PT. Here, the visit length isn't dictated by anyone but what you actually need — and treatment is built around finding the movement pattern behind the pain, not just calming down the symptom.
I've already tried physical therapy for this — how would this be different?
Often the issue isn't that PT doesn't work — it's that the actual driver of the pain was never identified. A full movement assessment, not just treatment of the sore spot, is where we start.
How soon can I get back to running, lifting, or my sport?
Depends entirely on what's actually going on — which is exactly what a Discovery Visit is for. We'll give you a real, specific answer instead of a generic timeline.
Start with a free Discovery Visit
No obligation, no referral needed. We'll figure out what's actually going on before we talk about a plan.
Schedule NowLet's talk about what's going on
Tell us what you're dealing with and we'll follow up personally to help you figure out the right next step.