Rehabilitation

A team of experts work together to provide your rehabilitation care at BIDMC.

• Speech-Language Pathologists: Specialists who treat communication and swallowing problems. They address problems such as difficulty speaking or making speech sounds, your understanding of language and voice concerns.
• Physical therapists: Specialists who focus on movement issues. They may help you improve strength, flexibility and endurance and help you lead a more active lifestyle.
• Occupational therapists: Specialists who help you develop or recover skills that enable you to go about daily life.

Most of our physical and occupational therapists obtain either a master's or doctorate degree. They also complete supervised clinical internships and pass a state licensing exam. Some therapists choose to undergo advanced training and additional exams. Further education helps them earn specialty certifications in areas such as orthopedic physical therapy or hand therapy.

Our rehabilitation therapists work closely with other specialists at BIDMC. This makes it possible for you to receive additional specialty care, such as pain management.

Our team also works closely with you and other members of your health care team. They assess your needs and create a treatment plan that’s personalized for you and your goals. Often, therapy begins at the hospital with inpatient care. But once you return home, your care may transition to an outpatient rehabilitation clinic. Our case managers make the process easy for you.

You also can get help from our senior health team if you're arranging for an older relative to enter a special center for rehabilitation or a long-term care facility where they will stay temporarily to receive additional treatment.

At BIDMC, you have access to highly specialized equipment to help you meet your goals. For instance, we use unique biofeedback software to provide pelvic floor therapy. It helps you see how well you're doing exercises that are meant to help you improve muscle control.

We have many types of exercise equipment on-site:

• Elliptical machine
• Exercise bikes
• Free weights
• NuStep machine (a cross between a bike and leg press that can be helpful for conditioning and lower leg strength)
• Theracycle (a special bike for those with neurological problems who might not be able to use a regular bike)
• Treadmills
• Weight machines

You can meet with your therapist in a private consultation room. After your exercise session, you can use our on-site men’s and women's locker rooms and showers.

What should I wear?

At your first visit, we will want to examine the part of your body causing you problems. If you have a shoulder or back injury, we may ask you to change into a gown so we can see the spine and surrounding muscles.

After the evaluation, your therapist will tell you what clothes will work best for your future visits. Some patients change into a gown each time, while others prefer loose-fitting exercise clothes or even street clothes. We provide men’s and women’s locker rooms to make changing into comfortable clothes easy for you.

Where can I park?

For the Boston location, patients can park in the Shapiro Center’s garage, located beneath the building with an entrance on Binney Street in Boston. Please let your therapist know if you need assistance getting from your car to the second floor.

What happens at my first visit?

The first time we meet, your physical or occupational therapist will discuss the problem that brings you to the appointment and your goals for therapy. They will perform an exam to better understand your condition, which might include looking at your posture, measuring your flexibility and strength, and demonstrating the movements that are painful for you.

The therapist will build a treatment plan and discuss the frequency and timing of follow-up visits. The therapist will review the importance of coming to each appointment and following through on your home exercise “homework.”

What happens if I have to miss an appointment?

Sticking to your therapy and the home program designed with your therapist is the most important thing you can do to ensure a positive outcome. We hope you make every effort to come to your scheduled appointments. If, for some reason, you do have to cancel or change an appointment, we ask that you please call us at least 24 hours in advance.

How many visits will I need?

Every patient’s situation is different. We have found that most often, patients visit us one to three times per week and are typically seen in our office for about six weeks. We see some patients for only one visit; after a complex surgery, the recovery process might take up to 20 visits.

Your first visit is likely to last 60 minutes and each visit after that will take between 30 and 60 minutes depending on your needs.

Will I have pain after my visit?

Most often, the goal of our treatment is to reduce your pain. If a particular movement or exercise is painful, your therapist will adjust it. At the first visit, you and your therapist can discuss what causes you pain so we can figure out the best way to make the pain better. After that first visit, our goal is to reduce your pain.

What will I need to do at home?

A key component of your physical or occupational therapy plan is likely to be a home program designed with your needs and lifestyle in mind. You will be asked to do some exercises at home that will get more effortful as you improve. You and your therapist will select these together and you will take home written instructions with pictures. The success of your therapy depends on doing these exercises as scheduled with your clinician.

If you already exercise regularly, your therapist may suggest some changes to accommodate your condition or prevent recurrences.