Meet your Physio
Dr. Melissa Alonzo, PT, DPT
It began with a dream to do Physical Therapy BETTER.
Melissa was born and raised in Wooster, Ohio. In High School, she was a competitive swimmer and runner. Afterward, she attended Humboldt State University for Environmental Science and Ethics. She moved to the Eastern Sierra in 2009 to pursue Climbing and a career in the sciences. Unfortunately, this was during the recession, and she fell into the available jobs at gear shops and guiding companies for a few years.
After realizing she couldn’t live out of a van forever, Melissa took a gamble and moved to Asheville, NC to pursue a degree in Physical Therapy. In her final year of school, she moved to Steamboat Springs, CO, to study with the Institute of Physical Art (IPA) for her final 4-month rotation. She graduated from East Tennessee State University in 2017.
Her experience at Steamboat experience led Melissa to continue her an intensive studies in IPA’s manual therapy techniques, completing all the course work to sit for their Certification in Functional Manual Therapy (CFMT) in 2020. Unfortunately, COVID lock down happened, and she was unable to sit for the exam. During this time, she worked at Sports Medicine clinics at UC Health and Mammoth Hospital.
Melissa moved back to the Eastern Sierra in 2019, after taking a position at Mammoth Hospital. After a couple of years, she felt like she was unable to provide the high quality care she was trained, so she left and started her own practice in 2021.
Melissa immediately started to work with professional runners and skiers in the area. She joined US Ski Team Medical Team and studies with their High Performance Team yearly. This has led her into the world of sports science, ACL rehabilitation, and athletic development. She became the strength and physio for Mammoth Track Team in 2021 and takes with USA Track and Field and Altis Coaching.
Melissa has dedicated her practice to working with elite athletes in Track and Field, Ultra Marathons, Freestyle snowboard and skiing, and Nordic and Alpine Ski Racing. She has crafted her skills in the art of Manual Therapy and Performance Training which meets the needs to the athletic population in the Eastern Sierra.