Rehabilitation Services

A timely recovery from an injury, surgery or illness often is determined by the quality of care received during recuperation. At Blue Ridge HealthCare’s Rehabilitation Services, our professional and highly skilled staff provides patients, families and caregivers with the resources, training and support needed to best guide them through the recovery process.

By giving our patients the level of care they need and closely monitoring their progress, we help them get their lives back on track as quickly as possible. All treatment is ordered by medical doctors who receive regular progress reports during and after the patient’s therapy.

At Blue Ridge HealthCare, our goal is to help you achieve the highest level of function, independence and quality of life as possible.

Treatment Programs

Treatment programs available at Blue Ridge HealthCare include the following:

Physical Therapy (PT)

Physical Therapy helps people to develop, improve and restore maximum movement and ability. Full and functional movements are at the heart of what it means to be healthy. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing movement potential, within the spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

Our services address impaired range of motion, poor balance, decreased strength, pain management, decreased function or independence and impaired ambulation or gait.

Our services include:

• Sports medicine rehabilitation programs
• Total joint rehabilitation programs
• Back/spine rehabilitation programs for non-surgical & surgical
• FCE/Industrial medicine rehabilitation/work conditioning
• On-site home/job assessment/recommendations
  
• Balance/gait training
• Neurological/neuromuscular programs
• Aquatic program
• Wound care program
• Lymphedema program
• Isokinetic testing/exercises
• Pain management programs
• Therapeutic modalities
• Soft tissue mobilization/massage programs
• Pediatrics
• Customized education programs

Occupational Therapy (OT)

Occupational Therapy provides treatment to help individuals develop, regain or maintain the skills necessary to participate in all facets of their lives. OT gives people the “skills for the job of living” necessary for meaningful and satisfying lives.

Our OT services include: therapeutic exercise to restore coordination, strength and mobility necessary to perform the activities of daily life, custom upper extremity splint fabrication, evaluation for adaptive equipment, instruction in work simplification & daily life activities, hand therapy and lymphedema therapy.

Services Provided:

• Hand therapy/certified hand therapist, i.e., shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand
• Customized splinting & orthotics
• Contracture management program
• Industrial medicine rehabilitation/work Conditioning
• On-site home/job assessment with adaptations & recommendations
• Activities of daily living skills/home management assessment & training
• Adaptive equipment assessment & training
• Neurological/neuromuscular rehabilitation programs
• Therapeutic modalities
• Isokinetic testing/exercises
• Sensory integration program
• Cognitive development training
• Seating/positioning
• Pediatrics
• Customized education programs

Speech Therapy

Speech Therapy is the rehabilitative or corrective treatment of physician and/or cognitive deficits/disorders resulting in difficulty with communication and/or swallowing.

Our services include swallow studies, swallowing rehabilitation, treatment to assess eating and drinking problems along with speech/language evaluations and treatments.

Services Include:

• Speech, language, and communication programs
• Swallowing/oral function programs
• Modified barium swallowing studies
• Flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing with sensory testing
• Expressive/receptive aphasia assessment & training
• Speech generating device assessment & training
• Voice prosthetic assessment & training
• Augmentative communication assessment & training
• Cognitive development training
• Reading & phonological awareness intervention program
• Articulation disorder program for children with developmental delays
• Language program for children with developmental delays
• VitalStim
• Pediatrics
• Customized education programs

Hand Therapy

Hand Therapy at Blue Ridge HealthCare offers preventative, non-operative treatments to manage pain, increase strength and motion, as well as postoperative rehabilitation including wound and scar management, custom splinting for protection or increasing motion, and edema reduction.

When you hurt something as vital as your hand, finding a hand expert to get you back on task just got easier. Blue Ridge HealthCare employs Certified Hand Therapists as well as other professionals experienced in hand therapy techniques. Therapists work closely with physicians and surgeons to provide the most comprehensive care for patients.
Our multitasking lifestyles can really take a toll on our hands, wrists and arms. The most common injuries are caused by rushing around and trying to do too much, too fast. We take our hands for granted until we sustain an injury and can’t use our hands normally to lift a cup of coffee or perform other simple tasks. We then realize just how important our hands are to our quality of life.

Our goal is to enable patients to maintain a healthy, productive lifestyle.
The hand therapist works with patients who may have been affected by an accident or trauma leaving them with wounds, scars, burns, injured tendons or nerves, fractures, or even amputation of the fingers, hands, or arms. A hand therapist also treats patients who are disabled from the affects of repetitive motion - such as tennis elbow or carpal tunnel syndrome. Many patients seeking the care of a hand therapist also suffer from such things as arthritis or a neurological condition.

Sports Medicine

Sports Medicine Center at Blue Ridge HealthCare teamed up with Burke County Public School in 2007 to offer athletic training and medical supervision for student athletes to reduce the number of injuries and to properly treat injuries as they occur.

Regardless of sport season, licensed athletic trainers are stationed at all four high schools in Burke County and they also service five middle schools. These athletic trainers can play a vital role in preparing our student-athletes and getting them back in the game when injuries occur. Their services may include treatment of athletic injuries, providing physician referral and educating the athlete as well as the parents and coaches on injury prevention, strength training and conditioning.

The Sports Medicine Center also has formed a partnership with Mountain Orthopeadics, part of Blue Ridge HealthCare’s Medical Group. Mountain Orthopeadics will provide an orthopeadic physician for each varsity home football game. And after Friday night football games, Blue Ridge HealthCare will hold injury clinics staffed by a Mountain Orthopeadics physician and the certified/licensed athletic trainers. This provides an avenue for athletes to see the proper specialist for their type of injury, as most athletic injuries are orthopedic in nature.

Since the Sports Medicine Center is part of the Blue Ridge HealthCare family, it can offer even more to the schools, parents and athletes. The center has access to MRIs, emergency services, surgery suites, inpatient care and rehab services – almost any type of service an athlete would ever need for their healthcare needs right here in Burke County. The trainers and hospital system work to provide free sports physicals for student-athletes in middle school and high school.

While the risk of injury will never be entirely eliminated, the Sports Medicine Center team at Blue Ridge HealthCare hopes to alleviate some of the worry for parents.

Pediatric Rehabilitation

Skilled pediatric outpatient services for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech Therapy is provided at Blue Ridge HealthCare. Our facilities include a pediatric gym, two quiet treatment rooms, aquatic therapy in the Phifer Wellness Center pool, and a parent resource library.

Physical Therapy is provided for:

• Delay in acquisition of gross motor skills - rolling, sitting, crawling, walking
• Impaired range of motion
• Decreased balance, coordination difficulties, clumsiness
• Gait deviations - idiopathic toe walking, poor heel/toe pattern
• Abnormal tone - hypotonicity, hypertonicity, or combinations of both
• Orthopaedics - fractures, sports injuries, and surgery

Occupational Therapy is provided for:

• Decreased fine motor skills - writing, cutting, manipulation, clothing fasteners, upper limb speed and dexterity
• Decreased visual perceptual skills - difficulty completing puzzles, loses place when reading, trouble copying from board, headaches, difficulty in letter recognition, and reversal of letters
• Trouble with self-care - feeding, dressing, tooth care, bathing, hygiene, etc.
• Sensory defensiveness - over or under sensitivity to sensory input
• Decreased ability to sustain attention
• Decreased motor planning ability - coordinating both sides of the body, inability to complete task sequences efficiently

Speech/Language Therapy is provided for:

• Speech that results in low intelligibility
• Prematurity resulting in feeding and/or speech-language developmental delays
• Neurological disorders that interfere with the speech mechanism
• Craniofacial anomalies that interfere with the oral-motor mechanism
• Swallowing disorders
• Vocal disorders
• Fluency disorders
• Receptive and/or Expressive Language delays

Common Diagnoses Treated at Grace House: Learning disabilities, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Fractures, ADD/ADHD, Cerebral Palsy, Hearing Impairments, Abnormal Muscle Tone, Speech/Language Delay, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Dysphagia, Sensory Defensiveness, Decreased fine/gross motor skills, Developmental Delay, Autism/Asperger’s, Traumatic Brain Injury, Down Syndrome, Vocal abuse/misuse, Torticollis, Gait Abnormalities, Clumsiness, Cleft Palate and Dyspraxia

Lymphedema Therapy

Lymphedema, an accumulation of protein-rich fluid in the superficial tissues, is a very common and serious condition worldwide. Left untreated it has important pathological and clinical consequences for the patient.

Secondary lymphedema is often caused by surgery, radiation, trauma or infection. The reason for the development of primary lymphedema is congenital malformations of the lymphatic system. In such cases the swelling may appear after simple accidents such as sport injuries, which can suddenly overload the transport capacity of the lymphatic system.
Complete Decongestive Therapy consists of the following four basic components:

Manual Lymph Drainage (MLD Vodder Technique)
MLD is a gentle manual treatment technique, which improves the activity of the lymph vessels and in the case of lymphedema re-routes the lymph flow around the blocked areas into more centrally located lymph vessels that drain into the venous system. MLD is not only effective in the treatment of lymphedema but also successfully used in the treatment of post-surgical and post-traumatic swellings, sports injuries, chronic venous insufficiencies, amputee stump edema, migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and swellings of other geneses. MLD is also frequently used for detoxification and general relaxation.

Gradient Therapy
Gradient compression therapy increases tissue pressure, which reduces swelling and pooling of fluid in venous or lymph systems. In phase one, gradient compression therapy consists of multi-layer short stretch bandages. In phase two, it is comprised of compression garments and self-bandaging.

Exercises
Decongestive exercises performed by the patient wearing the compression bandages or garments as well as proper breathing techniques, which are also part of CDT, aid the lymphokinetic effects of the joint and muscle pumps. The lymphokinetic effects of the joint and muscle pumps are aided by the decongestive exercises that the patient performs while wearing the compression bandages or garments.

Skin Care
Infections, such as cellulitis attacks or fungal infections can be a serious complication in lymphedema. Teaching the patients meticulous skin and nail care is an essential part of the treatment program.

Industrial Rehabilitation

Industrial Rehabilitation at Blue Ridge HealthCare provides employers with workers’ compensation services to assist in coordinating the care of injured workers treated at our facility. By partnering with the employer, the injured worker, the physician, insurance companies and nurse case managers, we seek to provide a cost-effective ongoing treatment plan that best meets the care needs of each injured worker with the goal of returning the worker quickly yet safely to the workplace.

Functional job descriptions are created using objective and subjective data supplied by the employee and employer as well as on site objective measurements. Utilizing the Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE), determinations made regarding appropriate job matching are coordinated between the worker, the employer, the physician, and the insurer Matching the workers’ known capabilities through the FCE with known components of the individual’s work helps prevent further injury or re-injury and ensures productive return to appropriate work activities.

Additional services are provided as needed and include:

• onsite ergonomic assessments
• educational classes for safe lifting/back care
• workstation modification consultations
• work conditioning
• tool modification
• on-site job coaching

Aquatic Therapy

Blue Ridge HealthCare’s Aquatic Therapy program can strengthen muscle with minimal joint irritation where land based therapy options are limited due to pain or disability. Aquatic therapy is beneficial for a variety of patient populations, including those recovering from joint surgery. The therapy facilitates joint movement with much greater ease and provides early movement of post-operative conditions. People who suffer from arthritis often have an improvement in range of motion from aquatic therapy.

Water unloads uncomfortable extremities while helping to loosen stiff joints. Overweight patients also enjoy aquatic therapy by burning calories in an environment that assists in cushioning their joints. Since the buoyancy of the water eliminates approximately 75% of body weight, the patient experiences less pain when moving. The viscosity of the water provides resistance to movement, resulting in increases in strength and stability of your joint.

Conditions that could benefit from Aquatic Therapy include:

• Low back pain
• Arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Total joint replacement
• Pregnant women with low back pain
• Diabetic neuropathy
• Neurological Disorders - Parkinson’s disease or stroke
• Sciatica
• Spinal cord injury
• Morbid obesity
• Sports injuries requiring low impact exercises

Aquatic Therapy in Morganton uses the pool at Phifer Wellness Center; in Valdese, patients can use the therapeutic pool where the water is kept at a comfortable 92 degrees. At Valdese, patients can use the AquaCiser, an underwater treadmill. This is a great therapeutic tool for patients allowing patients to exercise in a manner that relieves pain and increases endurance and reduces joint swelling. Massaging jets provide relief for post-exercise treatment.

Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Patients who have experienced a recent heart attack, cardiac surgery, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, such as asthma or chronic bronchitis, often require exercise and lifestyle modification to resume active and productive lives. Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services assist cardiologists, pulmonologists and primary care physicians in treating patients to help lower complications, reduce hospital re-admissions, and maximize the quality of patient care. Medicare, and most insurance companies cover cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.

Recovery and Prevention - Our medically supervised Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation program is designed to help you recover faster, prevent future occurrences, and improve quality of life from heart and lung disease. You may benefit from cardiopulmonary rehabilitation if you currently have heart disease or have had a heart attack, balloon catheter (PTCA) procedure, stent placement, heart transplant, coronary artery bypass surgery, heart failure, angina, arrhythmias, asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

Prosthetics/Orthotics

For individuals requiring custom fabrication of prosthetics or orthotics (braces), Blue Ridge HealthCare provides access to certified specialists without the need to travel to larger cities.

Problem Wound Care

Do you or someone you care about have a wound that just will not heal? The Blue Ridge HealthCare Rehabilitation Department offers specialized, highly trained staff for the management of wounds such as diabetic foot or leg ulcers, lower leg ulcers, deep wounds, infected surgical sites, contaminated wounds, pressure sores, burns and multiple wounds.

Contact

For more information about Blue Ridge HealthCare's rehabilitation services, please call (828) 580-6816 or (828) 879-7592.