Reliant Medical Group Rehabilitative Services

Whether you have suffered an injury, undergone surgery, or have some other medical problem, outpatient rehabilitation is an essential aspect of your recovery. At Reliant Medical Group Rehabilitative Services, you will find all the care and expertise needed to help you achieve your goals and reach the highest level of recovery possible. Click here to view services at our 7 convenient locations.

Physical therapists (PT)

Physical therapists provide services that help reestablish function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities of patients suffering from injuries or disease. They work to restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health. Their patients include accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low-back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy.

Therapists examine patients’ medical histories and then test and measure the patients’ strength, range of motion, balance and coordination, posture, muscle performance, respiration, and motor function. Next, physical therapists develop plans describing a treatment strategy and its anticipated outcome. Treatment often includes exercise, especially for patients who have been immobilized or who lack flexibility, strength, or endurance. Physical therapists encourage patients to use their muscles to increase their flexibility and range of motion. More advanced exercises focus on improving strength, balance, coordination, and endurance. The goal is to improve how an individual functions at work and at home.

Physical therapists also use electrical stimulation, hot packs or cold compresses, and ultrasound to relieve pain and reduce swelling. They may use traction or deep-tissue massage to relieve pain and improve circulation and flexibility. Therapists also teach patients to use assistive and adaptive devices, such as crutches, prostheses, and wheelchairs. They also may show patients how to do exercises at home to expedite their recovery.

Occupational therapists (OTR/L)

Occupational therapists help patients improve their ability to perform tasks in living and working environments. They work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, or emotionally disabling condition. Occupational therapists use treatments to develop, recover, or maintain the daily living and work skills of their patients. The therapist helps clients not only to improve their basic motor functions and reasoning abilities, but also to compensate for permanent loss of function. The goal is to help clients have independent, productive, and satisfying lives.

Occupational therapists help clients to perform all types of activities, from using a computer to caring for daily needs such as dressing, cooking, and eating. Physical exercises may be used to increase strength and dexterity, while other activities may be chosen to improve visual acuity or the ability to discern patterns. For example, a client with short-term memory loss might be encouraged to make lists to aid recall, and a person with coordination problems might be assigned exercises to improve hand-eye coordination. Occupational therapists also use computer programs to help clients improve decision-making, abstract-reasoning, problem-solving, and perceptual skills, as well as memory, sequencing, and coordination—all of which are important for independent living.

Patients with permanent disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, or muscular dystrophy, often need special instruction to master certain daily tasks. For these individuals, therapists demonstrate the use of adaptive equipment, including wheelchairs, orthoses, eating aids, and dressing aids. They also design or build special equipment needed at home or at work, including computer-aided adaptive equipment. They teach clients how to use the equipment to improve communication and control various situations in their environment.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs)

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), sometimes called speech therapists, evaluate, treat, and help to prevent disorders related to speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, and swallowing.

Speech-language pathologists work with people who have difficulty producing speech sounds; those with fluency problems, such as stuttering; people with voice disorders, such as hoarse voice; those with problems understanding and producing language; those with cognitive communication impairments, such as attention, memory, and problem-solving disorders; and they also work with people who have swallowing difficulties.

Speech, language, and swallowing difficulties can result from a variety of causes including stroke, brain injury or deterioration, developmental delays or disorders, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, voice pathology, mental retardation, or hearing loss. Problems can be congenital, developmental, or acquired.

Speech-language pathologists develop an individualized plan of care, tailored to each patient’s needs.  SLPs teach patients how to make sounds, improve their voices, or increase their oral or written language skills so they can communicate more effectively. SLPs also teach individuals how to strengthen muscles or use compensatory strategies to swallow without choking. Speech-language pathologists help patients develop, or recover, reliable communication and swallowing skills so patients can fulfill their educational, vocational, and social roles.

Other types of Therapists include:

• Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA )
• Certified Hand Therapist (CHT)
• Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP)
• Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant (COTA)
• Certified Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT)
  (Certified Mckenzie Therapist)
• Strength Training Specialist (STS)
• Certified Strength and Conditioning Instructor (CSCI)
• Doctorate Physical Therapist (DPT)
• Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT)
• Masters of Science (MS)