Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy

The Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center's goal is to help you achieve the best outcome through easy access to the right care. Our outpatient therapy center includes experienced speech, occupational and physical therapists all at one convenient location. Our therapists understand the benefits of a collaborative approach and invest in specialized areas to provide the expertise and focus you need for the greatest recovery. They combine skills and take a personalized approach to help you truly maximize your independence in an efficient and meaningful way; helping you through the challenges of pain, recovering from an injury, a stroke or other life altering circumstances. 

Physical Therapy

Aquatic Therapy

Dry Needling

Occupational Therapy

Speech Therapy

PARKINSON’S SUPPORT THERAPY 

MCKENZIE BACK & NECK THERAPY

BALANCE THERAPY & FALL PREVENTION 

HAND THERAPY

POWER PERFORMANCE

STROKE Rehab

Telehealth

Pain Reduction

Lymphedema Therapy

Physical Therapy

The Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center believes physical therapy involves specialized and individualized treatments to focus on your goals. 

The personal interactions and discussions that occur throughout the duration of every appointment often reveal problems or issues that may not arise during routine questioning at the beginning of each therapy session. Listening to you and applying what we learn from you throughout your time in therapy supports your success. 

In addition, your physical therapy appointments are scheduled one-on-one with a licensed physical therapist or physical therapist assistant. We do not employ any aides or trainers to render therapy services. Your appointments are scheduled for at least 45 minutes, allowing time to determine the cause of your injury, and develop your plan for success. Your physical therapist should be your ongoing partner in health. We want to be part of your primary health team. We believe in you. 

Aquatic Physical Therapy

You will benefit from the soothing warmth of our therapy pools, heated between 88 and 92 degrees to help you relieve your pain and get you back to living.

Benefits of Aquatic Physical Therapy

The buoyancy, warmth and resistance provided by warm-water therapy help to:

• decrease weight bearing/load on the joints
• increase muscle strength and range of motion
• improve coordination, posture, balance and joint mobility
• increase cardiovascular endurance
• decrease muscle stiffness and pain

Read more about the benefits of aquatic therapy here.

What does this mean for you?

• If you have arthritis and joints that are painful from worn-out cartilage water can provide a medium in which to move with less pain.
• If you have tried to exercise on land and have not been able to continue due to pain – water can provide a gentle environment to get you started.
• If you have back pain and difficulty strengthening your abdominal and trunk muscles to support your back, water can provide the support you need as you learn to use these supportive muscles.
• If you are recovering from a stroke, aquatic therapy is a safe way to challenge your balance, and can help to reduce and manage spasticity following a stroke. 
• Deep water movement with a buoyancy belt to hold you up can provide gentle traction to decompress painful vertebrae in the back.
• Balance problems can be treated with less fear of falling to a hard surface. Water is forgiving – your body can attempt movement and make mistakes and miscalculations and thereby learn its safe limits.
• Aquatic physical therapy is often prescribed in conjunction with land-based therapy, which can both be accomplished at the Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center promoting continuity of care towards meeting your goals. 

Read more about the indications and contraindications for aquatic therapy here.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy provides therapeutic techniques to address challenges with activities we perform each day. These may be related to activities of daily living, leisure activities and job performance. Occupational therapists can also perform home safety assessments with recommendations to improve a persons safety at home.

Diagnoses:

• Neurological:  stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, MS
• Orthopedic: Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, UE/ hand fractures, joint replacements
• Nerve injuries/ compression
• Traumatic injuries and post-surgical therapy
• Tendonitis
• Sprains
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Visual impairment

Interventions:

• Activity modification
• Activity analysis
• Adaptive equipment 
• Education
• Therapeutic exercise
• Edema control
• Orthotic interventions
• Modalities for pain management
• NMES
• Mirror visual feedback (MVF) 
• Graded Motor Imagery (GMI) 
• Sensory re-education
• Scar care

Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is a vital part of recovery from many illnesses, and may be used to help manage conditions that affect speech, language, eating, swallowing, safety and memory.

Speech therapy can help you gain greater control over speaking and language skills. A medical issue, onset of motor-skill affecting conditions, brain injury, or accidents that cause damage to the throat, jaw, or facial structure can also impair speaking ability.  Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, or strokes are just some examples. Other people may require adult speech therapy due to mental difficulties which affect comprehension of language, the ability to speak clearly and memory problems.  In addition, speech therapists work with individuals that have difficulty chewing or swallowing food.  At times they may utilize a specialized techniques to regain swallowing, referred to as Vital-Stim.

Fees: Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing

The FEES procedure is a special test that will help your doctor and speech therapist learn why you are having difficulty swallowing.  During the procedure the speech therapist will view and record pictures of your throat on a screen as you are swallowing.  

When is a FEES test needed? 

• Voice changes
• Experience drooling 
• Repeated choking and coughing when swallowing
• Severe tiredness or fatigue during meals
• Severe weight loss due to swallowing problems 
• Unable to have another type of swallowing test (modified barium swallow)
• At risk for swallowing fluids or food into the lungs (known as aspiration)

Benefits of a FEES procedure

• Determine your ability to swallow 
• Determine whether food or liquids go into your airway
• Decide whether you are able to eat safely 
• Determine the liquids and foods that are safest to include in your diet
• Many health problems can lead to dysphagia (inability to swallow) such as:  stroke, head injury, neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s

What happens after the FEES procedure?

• Review and share the results with your doctor
• Recommend what you should eat and ways to do so safely
• Meet with you to review the results of the procedure and establish a plan to help you eat and drink safely, if possible

LSVT BIG Physical Therapy and LOUD Speech Therapy

Specialized Parkinson's Treatments

LSVT BIG® techniques train individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and other neurological conditions to use bigger movements anywhere, anytime in daily living. Research on LSVT BIG® has documented improved ratings on tests of motor functioning in people with Parkinson’s Disease following treatment.
Improvements include:

• Faster walking with bigger steps
• Improved balance
• Increased trunk rotation

LSVT BIG® will teach you how to avoid inactivity and keep your movements BIG during everyday activities. It will help you participate fully and improve the quality of your life!

LSVT LOUD® is a standardized speech treatment program designed for individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. This program improves both the voice and speech by treating the underlying physical pathology associated with disordered voice.

Treatment is delivered by an LSVT LOUD® certified Speech Language Pathologist and improves both voice and speech. 

90% of patients improve vocal loudness from pre to post-treatment. 

ALL patients report improvement in their ability to communicate.

More than 20 years of research funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) has documented that LSVT LOUD® can result in:

•  Improved vocal loudness and speech intelligibility
•  Increased facial expression
•  Improved confidence

Read more about therapy for Parkinson's disease here.

Balance Therapy & Fall Prevention

One of three people 65 years of age and older falls each year.

The Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center Balance Therapy is designed to reduce fall risk and improve mobility. This specialized physical therapy focuses on improving balance, reducing risk of falls and improving your level of confidence and security.  If you are worried about falling or have experienced issues with balance, mobility or dizziness, we can help you. 

The program begins with a comprehensive, balance evaluation with a licensed physical therapist, including an assessment of balance, sensation, vision, dizziness and strength as well as walking and movement tasks. Following the evaluation, your individualized program is developed to improve your strength, balance, and meet your goals.

Therapy for Dizziness

With your diagnosis, our therapists can correctly interpret subtle signs and symptoms with prescribed and proven treatments of challenges in balance, dizziness and vertigo symptoms. We’ll assist you in improving your walking ability, balance, coordination, and posture if you suffer from inner ear disorders.   

Vestibular Rehabilitation (VRT) for Inner Ear Issues

The goal of VRT is to retrain the inner ear and the brain to correctly and accurately recognize and process signals from your vestibular system in coordination with your vision and proprioception (your body’s sense of where you are in space). When your inner ear system is compromised, you may become overly dependent on input from your vision and proprioception to maintain your balance.  In addition, you may compensate by developing new patterns of head and body movement to avoid dizziness and nausea. As you may have experienced, these compensations can worsen symptoms, often causing headache, muscle tension, and fatigue.

Hand Therapy

Menorah Park’s Hand Therapy Clinic specializes in the treatment of complex traumatic injuries and post-surgical procedures, as well as more common problems involving the upper extremity. Therapy is provided with the expertise of a Certified Hand Therapist who provides specific treatments that include surgical repair of tendons and nerves, fractures, amputations and burns. Hand Therapy also includes treatment for conditions such as tendonitis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Treatment may involve custom splint fabrication for prevention or correction of an injury, management of acute or chronic pain, training in use of adaptive equipment, and exercise programs to increase motion, dexterity and strength.

The hand’s complex anatomy and function allow us to perform all of the activities that are necessary for daily living and so imperative to our quality of life.  The ability to use our hands is critical to everything we do every day.  Since we use our hands all day long, we want to be assured that we will receive the best care available to recover from any injury, surgery, or medical condition of the upper extremity.  Put your hands in the very best care.  Ask for the expertise of a Certified Hand Therapist at the Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center.

Power Performance: Golf for Life

If you love golf, and are looking for ways to improve your game, we have your answer! You can hit hundreds of balls to improve your swing but if you have a muscular limitation or imbalance, repeating the same swing over and over won’t fix your problem.  POWER PERFORMANCE is a Movement Analysis and Training program for ULTIMATE golf success. Whether you are recovering from injury or are looking to improve your game before or during the season, this program is for you. You will benefit from:

• 60-90-minute comprehensive movement analysis with our physical therapists trained by the Titleist Performance Institute, specializing in golf performance
• Identification of physical limitations preventing your optimal performance
• Prescription of a customized conditioning program to improve mechanics and efficiency resulting in POWER PERFORMANCE.

The program will be designed to meet your needs and work on your golf goals! You can meet with our trained professionals weekly, monthly, whatever fits your schedule. The cost for the program is as follows:

• $200 Evaluation
• $100 Training sessions

Stroke Rehab

Physical, Occupational, and Speech therapy work as a team to help you recover from a stroke in the most effective way.  Each therapy has a role to play in your recovery to help you regain your independence.  After a stroke, the nervous system is damaged, and you may discover varying degrees of challenges with fine motor skills, gross motor skills or with your ability to speak and swallow.

Physical Therapy and Stroke Rehab

Physical Therapists work with you to improve your gross motor skills, strength, balance, coordination, and functional mobility, including bed mobility, transfers, walking, and stair-climbing. They can also help you manage spasticity, meaning stiffness or involuntary muscle spasms, following a stroke.

For more information about Physical Therapy and Stroke Rehab follow this link.

Occupational Therapy and Stroke Rehab

Occupational Therapy (OT) is essential in your recovery following a stroke, and Menorah Park offers OT Stroke Rehab services from inpatient to outpatient therapy. Our outpatient Occupational Therapist is a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) and can use this specialization to help restore your fine and gross motor control in your hands and arms and address upper extremity limitations that impact your ability to participate in activities of daily living and self-care.  

In addition, our occupational therapist can also address visual and perceptual deficits, UE spasticity or flaccidity, recommend appropriate orthotics, assess posture and postural control, and address executive functioning deficits.  Our occupational therapist can also use modalities and other treatment techniques to help address shoulder, elbow, and hand pain.  Occupational therapists are also trained to address important psychosocial factors following a stroke, such as depression, social anxiety, and caregiver training.

For more information about Occupational Therapy and Stroke Rehab follow this link.

Speech Therapy and Stroke Rehab

Speech-Language Pathologists or Speech Therapists (ST) can evaluate, diagnose, and treat disorders related to speech, language, cognition, voice, or swallowing abilities following a stroke.  Speech therapy teaches strategies to regain functional communication, strengthen speech, swallow, and voice muscles.  Our ST assesses the need for the use of NMES or a FEES study (Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing) that can be completed right on-site with instant feedback.  Speech therapists can improve safety awareness, the ability to solve everyday problems, as well as develop an individualized home exercise program.  

For more information about Speech Therapy and Stroke Rehab follow this link.

Telehealth

Menorah Park’s Peter B. Lewis Aquatic & Therapy Center now offers Telehealth services for Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy.  Telehealth allows you to video conference with a therapist online using a secure and private version of Zoom.  This two way video & audio connection allows you to be assessed and receive needed treatment without having to leave your home.  

If you decide Telehealth is the right solution for you, our staff will set up an appointment for you and a therapist will email you the link that you can use to join the meeting.  All you need is access to Zoom through a phone, tablet, laptop or computer.

Pain Reduction

Whether your pain is from a new injury or chronic, our experienced therapists offer personalized care to help you manage your pain and get you back to doing the activities you enjoy.  Our staff are experts on a variety of techniques to assist you with pain management and can help you find the right solution.  Some of our specialties include Dry Needling, Aquatic Therapy and McKenzie Therapy that can all assist with pain reduction.

Dry Needling

Dry needling is a treatment to ease muscular pain. A certified physical therapist can use dry needling in combination with active movement in the water or on land, depending on your personal needs and preferences. Chronic pain can be debilitating and dry needling is often the key to help you return to daily life without excruciating pain.

McKenzie Back & Neck Therapy

Suffering from lower back or neck pain can affect every part of daily life. Whether sitting in the car, standing to brush teeth, bending to put on shoes, or trying to carry groceries, the simplest chores can be excruciating. The McKenzie Method has been proven to decrease short-term pain and disability.

Our certified McKenzie Practitioners will prescribe a personalized exercise program for each client, and provide advanced hands-on techniques to manage symptoms and improve mobility.

Manual Therapy

Manual Therapy includes any “hands on” treatment by a physical therapist and includes many different techniques.  The benefits of manual therapy include reduced pain, improved motion, and improved tissue extensibility.  Manual therapy includes a variety of techniques such as myofascial release, muscle energy techniques, joint mobilization or manipulation, and soft tissue mobilization.  

Lymphedema Therapy

Our staff includes a Certified Lymphedema Therapist (CLT) who has received specialized training and instruction in Complete Decongestive Therapy for the treatment of Lymphedema in both the upper and lower extremities. Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT) is the current standard of care for the treatment of lymphedema. 

There are four components to this comprehensive approach to treatment: 

• Manual lymph drainage (MLD) techniques for mobilizing and rerouting lymph fluid.
• Compression therapy used to maintain the size of the limb, support the tissues of the limb and prevent re-accumulation of fluid. 
• Decongestive exercise prescription to optimize the joint and muscle pump promoting fluid transport.
• Education on skin care for protecting the skin and reducing the risk of injury and infection.

For more information about Lymphedema Therapy follow this link.

      Read about more therapy topics in our blog.