Comprehensive Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Services is a state of the art facility. We offer the very latest in physical therapy techniques. We are here to meet the personal goals of each and every patient. Equipped with the latest technology, our facility is spacious and comfortable.

Ice massage involves rubbing a large piece of ice (often water that has been frozen in a paper cup) over the injured area to numb the skin. If the area being treated is easily reached by you, your clinician may instruct you how to perform the technique, both while in the clinic and while at home. Most ice massage treatments last from 10 to 15 minutes or until the skin is numb. Some form of therapeutic exercise often is performed following ice massage.

Your clinician may give you self-treatment instructions on how to apply ice massage to yourself at home.

The most common form of cryotherapy involves placing crushed or cubed ice in a plastic bag and applying the bag to the injured area. Normal treatment the duration for this form of cryotherapy is 15 to 30 minutes. Your clinician may give you self-treatment instructions on how to apply ice packs to yourself at home.

Note: Reusable cold packs (those that are kept in the freezer) can result in frostbite. An insulating layer of terry cloth toweling must be used to protect the skin.

You clinician may perform manual muscle tests to determine how much strength one muscle or muscle group can produce relative to the opposite extremity. Manual muscle tests are often performed along with range of motion test and flexibility assessment. The results of these tests are useful in determining the severity of a muscle strain, joint injury, or if nerves are properly instructing muscles to contract.

Verbal	Percentage	Grade	Meaning
Normal	100%	5	The joint can produce full strength throughout the range of motion.
Good	75%	4	The joint can move through the range of motion, but with not as much resistance.
Fair	50%	3	The joint can move thorugh the reange of motion against gravity, but not against manual  resistance.
Poor	25%	2	Can move through the range of motion with gravity eliminated.
Trace	10%	1	Very slight joint movement is seen.
Zero	0%	0	The muscle does nto or cannot contract.

Moist heat packs are the most common method of heating the tissues. These packs vary in size from 6 by 8 in. to those that will cover a large portion of the back. They also come in specific shapes and sizes to fit the neck, shoulder, and other irregularly shaped areas.

The packs are filled with finely ground sand and are stored in a unit that heats them to approximately 160? F. Because they are so hot, your caregiver will place the pack inside of a terry cloth cover and/or cover the pack with toweling. When the moist heat pack is placed on your skin, it should comfortable warm, but not so hot to burn the skin. Your clinician will check back with you regularly to make sure that the temperature becomes too great. If at any time you feel that you are being burned, remove the hot pack and summons assistance. Moist heat treatments are usually applied for 20 to 30 minutes.

Paraffin baths consist of a mixture of melted wax and mineral oil that it heated to a temperature of 118? to 126?F. This technique is used to apply heat to small, irregularly shaped areas such as the hands, feet, and elbow. In addition to the benefits found with all heat modalities, paraffin baths are also used to soften and moisturize dry, hard skin.

This treatment should not be used when cuts, wounds, or skin conditions are present on the body part being treated. Patients should be cautioned not to move the joints that are covered with the wax while the limb is still immersed in the mixture as doing so can cause the wax to crack and inadvertently increase the skin temperature. Paraffin baths are normally applied for 15 to 20 minutes.

One of the measures of a limb's ability to function is how it moves through its range of motion (ROM). Measured in degrees, ROM is the distance between the point where the joint is straightened (extended) as far as it will go to the point where it is bent as far as it will go (flexed).

Some ROM tests are performed simply by comparing the amount of movement in one joint to the opposite extremity. Precise ROM measurements are taken using a goniometer, a protractor-like device indicates to the clinician the total number of degrees of ROM. Other ROM evaluation techniques may use a tape measure or a device that is similar to a carpenter's level (inclinometer).

Range of motion measurements is useful in showing how well you are responding to treatment. As such, these measurements are often recorded in your medical file.

Resistance bands are similar to a flattened out piece of a bicycle inner tube. Indeed, this technique was first done using old inner tubes. Contemporary resistance bands are more scientifically developed and come in a wide range of tensions, the higher the tension, the more strength required to perform the exercises. Resistance bands may also come in the form of rubber tubing. Most brands of resistance bands are color-coded indicating the tension.

When you first begin your exercises, you will start by using resistance bands of relatively low tension. Your clinician will develop a routine for you that will involve multiple sets, each involving a certain number of repetitions (reps), for instance 3 sets of 10 repetitions. As you get stronger, your clinician will increase the tension of the resistance band you are using and/or increase the number of sets or reps.

As you first begin your exercise program it is common for your muscles to be sore a day or two later. Although this is a usual response, inform your caregiver of the location, type, and intensity of discomfort that you are experiencing.

This form of deep heating uses radio waves to cause molecular vibration within the tissue. The vibrations cause friction that subsequently produces heat, especially in tissues that have a high water content such as blood, adipose tissue, and muscle.

Prior to treatment, you should remove all metal objects from your body including earrings, jewelry, watches, body piercings, keys and change from your pockets, and hearing aids. Consult with your clinician if you have any questions or concerns regarding the safety of other metal you may have on your person. Likewise, inform your caregiver if you are pregnant, use a pacemaker, have a hx. of infection or cancer. He or she will then make the determination regarding the safe use of this device.

Shortwave diathermy treatments are performed by either placing a series of coiled cables over the injured area or positioning a drum so that the energy will radiate to the tissues. Your clinician will then set the intensity to the desired level. During the treatment, you should feel a comfortable heating sensation. If the intensity of the treatment becomes too intense, inform your clinician, but do not attempt to adjust the unit yourself. The duration of shortwave diathermy treatments is 20 to 30 minutes.

Therapeutic ultrasound is one of the most widely used physical modalities. These units produce a high-frequency sound wave (above the range of human hearing) that can produce thermal and other effects within the tissues or can help introduce various medicines into the body (phonophoresis). Ultrasound is used to decrease swelling, control inflammation, remove scar tissue, reduce muscle spasm, desensitize trigger points, and treat neurological disorders.

Prior to beginning the treatment, your clinician may clean the area to be treated with a mild cleansing agent such as alcohol. Most ultrasound treatments require that a gel be placed on the treated area. Other techniques my involve the use of a water-filled bladder or having the treated body part (usually the foot, ankle, or hand) immersed in a tub of water. The ultrasound head (also called the transducer) is then slowly moved over the injured area.

If the goal of the treatment is to provide deep heating, you should expect to feel a mild, but not uncomfortable warmth under the sound head. Inform your clinician if the temperature becomes too high or your are experiencing discomfort or other unusual sensations. During some ultrasound treatments, you may experience no sensations other than the sound head moving across your skin.

Therapeutic ultrasound should not normally be applied over areas of cancer, the lumbar or abdominal region if you are pregnant or menstruating, non-healed fractured sites, or if the treated area does not have normal blood supply or nerve function. Your health care provider will determine if you have conditions that would rule out the use of therapeutic ultrasound prior to your first treatment.

Whirlpools use a system of air jets and water pumps to circulate water and produce air bubbles to massage and relax the treated area. Warm whirlpools are normally used with a temperature range of 100? F to 110? F. If only the extremities are being treated warmer temperatures are used; if the entire body (or larger percentage of the body is immersed) a cooler temperature is used. Since the body floats in water, whirlpools are an ideal environment to practice range of motion exercises. Warm whirlpool treatments last between 15 to 30 minutes.

Theraputic Exercise, Postural Exercise, Isokinetic Exercise, Neuromuscular Re-education exercise, Progressice Resistive exercise and Stabilization Programs are customized to each individual patients's needs for stretching, strengthening and increasing endurance. Patients are also given printed Home Exercise Programs.

Complete Physical evaluation is conducted to assess the orthotic and /or prosthetic needs of individual patients and recommendations for appropriate Rx. are made to the referring MD. After the fitting of the device, necessary training is provided to attain maximum physical and functional potential.