Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is an allied health profession that helps individuals of all ages, from newborn to elderly, to regain lost function related to injury or illness. Physical therapy works to allow the individual to perform activities as independently as possible.
Wound Care
Wound Care is provided both in the inpatient and outpatient settings with staff utilizing whirlpool or pulsatile lavage to clean and debride wounds.
Pulsatile lavage has become a treatment of choice for acute wounds. What makes it better is utilizing sterile saline instead of water and providing negative pressure, vacuum, which has been shown to speed healing. However, pulsatile lavage will not work for every wound. For large wounds or those for which pulsatile lavage will not work, we still offer whirlpool therapy.
For wounds that persist an extended period or have failed to respond to physical therapy, advanced wound healing techniques and tools are available through Reid’s Wound Healing Services.
Urinary Incontinence
Incontinence – the involuntary loss of bladder and/or bowel control, including the ability to expect when and where a bladder or bowel movement is to take place – affects up to 20 million Americans. Most mistakenly believe that there is no help available, and frustration, depression and isolation ensue. Sometimes a family member is placed in a nursing home because of incontinence.
Incontinence is caused by many conditions including infections, pregnancy, surgery, and obesity. Diseases like diabetes, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy can also cause incontinence.
Our therapists work with your physician to provide a conservative treatment approach. Sessions consist of bladder training and biofeedback-assisted pelvic floor exercises that strengthen the muscles that support the pelvic area. This program is simple but highly effective for overcoming incontinence.
Aquatic Therapy
Aquatic therapy at the Richmond Outpatient clinic can help with many different diagnoses.
- Arthritis
- Pre/Post–operative
- Total joint replacements
- Fibromyalgia
- Osteoporosis
- Abnormal tone
Our state-of-the-art therapy pool has many advantages over a traditional pool.
- One on one care, our normal standard, provides a private setting for aquatic therapy. No more in a pool with all the kids and lap swimmers looking on.
- No steps or stairs; the floor of the pool can be raised to deck level so that you can simply walk or be pushed in a wheelchair right out to the middle. The floor will slowly lower when you are ready to get wet.
- Pool depth is controlled by the therapist, affording customized depth that can maximize comfort and therapeutic effectiveness.
- Temperature is between 88 and 94 degrees, much warmer and more comfortable than a traditional pool
- The floor of the pool is also a treadmill that can be set at any speed from 0.1 to 8 m.p.h.
- Jets at the front of the pool can generate a 6 m.p.h. current to provide additional resistance to movement, increased difficulty, a current to swim against or a focal stream of current for aquatic massage.
- Underwater cameras allow the therapist to view your motion without the distortion of looking down through the water. Cameras are mounted at the front and sides of the pool. Your motion can also be recorded so that improvements can be shown over the course of treatment.
Work Related Services/Functional Capacity Evaluations
Our staff provides pre-employment testing for several businesses. A pre-employment screening can be an off-the-shelf test of general abilities or it can be a specific test designed to more closely emulate the demands of a particular job. Custom test designs are based on a work site assessment of your facility.
Ergonomics is the study of work and how the worker interacts with the environment. Poor working environments can place undue stresses on the body and lead to injury. We can assess work areas and recommend modifications to prevent or reduce on the job injuries.
Work conditioning is a service we offer patients who have sustained serious or long-term debilitating injuries and have been off work for an extended period. In these situations, a person might not be able to return to their job due to decreased physical activity tolerance. This service moves the person through a series of steps that simulate the physical demands of their job and increases their functional tolerance to the level necessary to return to work.
An FCE is a test performed at our Richmond clinic to determine functional activity tolerance. A variety of activities are tested to determine the patient’s functional abilities and limits. This test helps to determine if an individual is able or unable to perform a job or return to job-related activities. FCEs can last up to 4½ hours.
