Dr. Esther Marie Massad
PT, DPT
With more than 35 years of experience in rehabilitation and physical therapy, Dr. Esther Marie Massad brings an exceptional depth of clinical knowledge and a truly integrative approach to patient care. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston and has spent her career helping patients understand the underlying causes of their symptoms, restore movement, and return to the activities that matter most to them.
Esther is also an experienced pelvic floor physical therapist and has a particular gift for treating conditions involving neuromuscular control—the complex relationship between the brain, nervous system, muscles, and movement. Her extensive background allows her to recognize connections throughout the body that can easily be missed when symptoms are treated in isolation. This makes her especially skilled at working with patients who have complex, persistent, or multifactorial conditions.
Before becoming a physical therapist, Esther trained and worked as an athletic trainer, giving her a strong foundation in sports medicine, biomechanics, injury prevention, and return to activity. Over the course of her career, she has developed expertise across pelvic health, orthopedics, neurological rehabilitation, balance and vestibular disorders, stroke recovery, chronic pain, sports injuries, TMJ dysfunction, headaches, and other conditions involving impaired movement and neuromuscular coordination.
Her treatment style combines strong clinical reasoning with individualized, hands-on care. Esther has completed extensive continuing education in dry needling and incorporates functional dry needling when appropriate. She is also trained in visceral mobilization, a specialized hands-on approach that addresses mobility and restrictions involving the body’s internal tissues and their relationship to surrounding muscles, fascia, and structures. She incorporates this along with manual therapy, myofascial release, craniosacral therapy, and Graston®/instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM).
Rather than simply treating the location of pain, Esther evaluates how the pelvic floor, nervous system, joints, muscles, fascia, visceral structures, posture, and movement patterns may be interacting to contribute to a patient’s symptoms. Her breadth of experience is especially valuable for patients whose symptoms don’t fit neatly into one category or who have not found lasting relief with more traditional approaches.
Throughout her career, Esther has practiced in acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, and sports medicine programs. Most recently, she worked as an outpatient physical therapist at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, where she treated patients with neurological and orthopedic conditions, balance disorders, and those recovering from stroke.
Originally from New England, Esther has always enjoyed the outdoors and the region’s mountains, forests, coastline, and changing seasons. She is excited to begin a new chapter in Philadelphia and become part of the local community.
Esther believes successful physical therapy is about much more than treating symptoms. It requires understanding the individual, recognizing how different systems of the body influence one another, and identifying the factors that may be preventing the body from functioning optimally. She is thrilled to bring her decades of experience, expertise in pelvic health and neuromuscular rehabilitation, and passion for solving complex problems to Rebalance Physical Therapy & Wellness.
