Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray Roman.
Ray, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always been passionate about sports medicine. I knew that I wanted to work with all types of patients who were motivated to get back to work, the playing field or just have pain-free mobility. I began working in the UCI athletic training room in 1998 as a student athletic trainer, and this is where my passion for treating athletes/patients developed. I began my employment with ProSport Physical Therapy & Performance as a Physical Therapy Aide in 2002 while I attended the University of California, Irvine.
After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry, I attended Chapman University where I received my Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy in 2006. I am board certified in Sports (SCS) & Orthopedics (OCS). I also Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) & Active Release (ART) practitioner. I was fortunate enough to rejoin the team at ProSport Physical Therapy as a physical therapist in 2007, where I am currently the Director of Integrative Wellness.
I was watching ESPN and saw a Physical Therapist performing needling techniques, and I thought the caption was an error because I thought it should have been an acupuncturist, but later I found out that this special technique was called, “Dry Needling.” This unique technique of utilizing a needle to minimize pain was amazing which led me to take the beginning & advanced Dr. Ma Integrative Dry Needling Courses in Arizona and Colorado, respectively.
However, under the APTA in California, it is illegal for a physical therapist to perform this technique and therefore the only way I could utilize this technique would be if I went back to school and received my acupuncture license which would be another three years of full-time school while working to support my family. This was a very challenging decision to make since I had for many years put my family goals behind my academic goals.
I spoke it over with my wife and came to the conclusion that this would be best for our family in the longevity of my career and therefore decided to jump right back into school again. I graduated in August of 2015 from the College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (CAOM) at the Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCU) in Whittier and is a licensed Acupuncturist & Herbalist (LAc).
I am a Diplomat in Oriental Medicine (DOM) which means that I passed the National Board Exam to practice Acupuncture in any State w/in the United States. I am the founder of Balance Point Therapy which is based on Integrative Sports Acupuncture. My goal is to continue to integrate Western and Eastern philosophies in order to provide a sports-specific proactive, preventative & dynamic approach to restoring balance within the body.
I currently have been working with the Los Angeles Chargers over the past two years as their Integrative Sports Acupuncturist during their Recovery Days prior to and during their season. I am therefore one of the only Physical Therapist who can perform dry needling in California since it is illegal, but I am able to utilize my acupuncture license as a way to bring this technique to many patients/athletes in California.
I also the founder of Netz 4 Life, non-profit Organization that has been established since August 2005. The Mission of this Organization is to “Leave No Rim Netless” through revitalizing neglected basketball courts. Netz 4 Life works to build educational & leadership programs to inspire and motivate at-risk youth to restore their communities – one neighborhood at a time.
Has it been a smooth road?
One of the main challenges for me was that I was Hispanic in a mainly Asian based profession. Many people said that me not being Asian would be an obstacle, but I looked at it as an advantage. I had many of my professional colleagues criticize the fact that I was going back to school for another degree when I already had so many, but I looked at is as I was specializing, not changing professions.
The hardest thing for me was to know that in order to have more opportunities later in life, I would have to literally sacrifice the first three years of my marriage and two years of my daughter’s life. Knowing that my wife is extremely strong, Independent and amazing full-time working women, it made my choice a little easier in the fact that I knew she would make sure everything would be taken care of, while I was back in school.
My days would literally look like this:
7-noon (works as a PT)
12:30pm-5pm (Acupuncture Internship)
5:30pm-10pm (Acupuncture academics)
For this reason, I created, “Integrative Sports Acupuncture,” which is a combination of (1) Sports Acupuncture, (2) Integrative Dry Needling, (3) Dynamic Cupping, & (4) Active Release Techniques.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Balance Point Therapy – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Balance Point Therapy is an integrative sports acupuncture therapeutic approach combining the Eastern philosophy of acupuncture and oriental medicine with the Western philosophy of board-certified physical therapy services specializing in sports (SCS) and orthopedics (OCS) in order to restore ‘Balance’ and optimize healing potential.
Balance Point Therapy harnesses the bodies own healing potential in order to assist the human movement system in restoring normal homeostasis. It provides a sport-specific proactive, preventative and dynamic approach to restoring “Balance” within the body.
Balance Point Therapy believes that any internal/external imbalances/ stresses within our body’s systems (circulatory, digestive, endocrine, immune, lymphatic, muscular, nervous, reproductive, respiratory, skeletal, urinary and integumentary) will lead to slower healing potentials and overall more compensatory manifestations.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the diversity of people, cultures, and energy of my city. My least favorite thing that I have to do is to deal w/ the traffic.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2777 Bristol St., Ste. B
Costa Mesa, CA 92626 - Website: Balance Point Therapy
- Phone: 9492933662
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @balancepointtherapy
- Facebook: Balance Point Therapy
- Yelp: Balance Point Therapy
- Other: www.BalancePointTherapy.com
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
