Lopa Chitalia

Lopa believes in the mantra, “SHARE AND CARE”. It was a childhood dream of Lopa’s to get into medicine and provide healing hands to those in need. Lopa attributes her passion for helping others mostly from watching her parents who volunteered their time helping people in desperate times.

Believing in herself and knowing she had a strong will to see her dreams come true, Lopa began exploring all medical fields until she found the one she knew would best enable her to provide those healing hands. She loves physical therapy and all that it enables her to do for others in a positive, interactive environment.

Lopa earned her bachelor’s degree in Physical therapy from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, in India in 2013. She was able to learn a lot in her first year at a hospital in India, but wanted more. Having the zest to grow further in her life professionally she made the decision to move to the United States in 2014 and completed her Masters in Neuromuscular Physical therapy from University of Pittsburgh, School of Health and Rehabilitation Science in 2015. While studying in Pittsburgh, Lopa realized her keen interest was in Vestibular Rehabilitation. Lopa pursued her studies in this area and now has her certification as a Vestibular Rehabilitation therapist from the American Institute of Balance and is a LSVT BIGTM clinician for Parkinson’s Disease from LSVT Global since 2017.

The outpatient setting provides her the best opportunity to use her experience and creativity to help people with chronic pain conditions, joint replacements, TMJ, postural dysfunctions, repetitive stress injuries, and many more. Lopa is specialized and has an excellent approach in management of clients with neurological conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries. Lopa takes great pride in her accomplishments and her ability to enhance the lives of all people, but specifically those who suffer with vertigo, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), and falls/balance disorders.

“Active listening” is another one of Lopa’s tenets. She knows that really engaging with her patients and clients enables her to understand the whole picture, strengthening the patient – therapist bond and her ability to help them most efficiently. She loves BreakThrough’s mission which enables her to provide those listening skills and healing hands she dreamed of as a child of India.

Lopa likes to keep herself updated with the recent literature & evidence based studies through independent research as well as ongoing collaboration with her colleagues at BreakThrough and continuing education courses in manual therapy, vestibular rehabilitation, and neurological treatment techniques.

Away from work and continued professional development activities, Lopa likes to spend her free time with family, friends, or working out in the gym. She enjoys traveling to explore different cultures, traditions, and various food cuisines.