As somebody in the US who had to do 2 months of PT before I could even get an MRI of an injury, this is both surprising, and yet also not, to hear.

I broadly agree though; about a decade ago I had the standard office worker low back pain problems which cleared right up after doing squats multiple times a week. Of course a decade later I managed to blow out a disc at the gym, which I still work through as I write this today, but well worth the risk in the long run. Even with that long experience of strength training, the PT was worth it even if it didn’t fix my problem entirely. It added some variety and pointed out some details I had overlooked to improve my shoulder health.