UnityPoint Health Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Cedar Rapids)

• Individual rooms
• Private, roll-in showers
• One room is an apartment like setting
• Spacious dining room
• Education room

Large state-of-the-art gym space with specialized equipment:

• Fully functioning kitchen
• Bodyweight-supported treadmill gait training
• Vestibular and balance rehabilitation using Neurocom Balancemaster
• Solo Step Overhead Track & Harness System
• Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike
• Basketball & Volleyball
• Grocery Store
• Varied surfaces walkway
• Front Porch
• Car
• Dynavision

To prepare for your upcoming stay with us, please be aware of the following:

What to Bring

• A list of home medications, including dosages. (This may be provided by the hospital/facility you are transferring from.)
• Equipment you are currently using, such as braces, wheelchair, hearing aids, prosthesis, etc.
• Five to seven changes of loose-fitting clothes (sweat suits, pants, shirts, undergarments). Families will be asked to take their outfits home to launder.
• One or two pairs of sturdy walking shoes.
• Toiletries, such as comb, brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, electric razor, makeup, etc.

Arrival

Free parking is available at various areas around St. Luke's and the West parking structure is reserved specifically for visitors. Come to the main entrance on St. Luke's west side (next to the Emergency Department). Admission desk workers will direct you to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation on the 6th floor.

Orientation – What to Expect the First Day

• The first day of rehabilitation is very busy and we encourage you to bring a family member or friend with you, if at all possible.
• You'll first spend time with a nurse, who'll get to know you and anyone you bring along.
• A member of our team will take you on a facility tour.
• A doctor, specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation, will examine you.
• Your therapy sessions may begin the day you arrive.

Rehabilitation is a 24-hour commitment to each patient. All team members work together to improve a patient's quality of life and help them adjust to illness or injury. During a patient's stay, a specially trained rehabilitation doctor oversees a patient's care plan to ensure goals are met. To reach these goals, patients participate in at least three hours of therapy Monday through Friday and have less intensive therapy on the weekends. Therapy may include physical, occupational, recreation and speech therapy. Patients receive 24-hour rehabilitation nursing care.

Patients have a number of tools available to practice personal skills such as bathing, dressing and cooking. They also practice getting in and out of a car and navigating curbs and stairs. A transitional apartment provides a practice home environment for patients and their families to live in before leaving the hospital. Psychological testing, counseling, education and support groups may also be part of a patient's care plan. Team communication is an important part of St. Luke's Inpatient Rehabilitation. Patients meet with members of the team during their first week to help determine needs, and then periodically during the patient's stay to review progress.

• Individualized physical, occupational and speech-language therapy plans
• Treatment for speech-language, cognition, voice, and vocal cord dysfunction
• Seating and positioning clinic
• Orthotics- prosthetics clinic
• Driver evaluation
• Low vision evaluation and training
• Swallowing evaluation and treatment
• Community re-entry activities
• Spasticity management
• Body weight supported treadmill gait training
• Concussion management
• Vestibular and balance rehabilitation using Neurocom Balancemaster
• Falls reduction training
• Modified constraint-induced movement therapy
• Off-site pool therapy
• Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike
• Parkinson's disease LSVT BIG and LOUD therapy
• Music therapy
• Solo-Step^® Fall Prevention System

All patient evaluations and treatments are provided under a written order by a physician or other healthcare provider such as a physician's assistant or nurse practitioner.

Physical, occupational and speech therapy services are billed as outpatient therapy. Some insurance plans may require prior approval. Check with your insurance company for requirements for prior approval and therapy benefits. We can provide you with specific information such as diagnostic and treatment codes if needed. St. Luke's Priceline at (319) 369-7513 is also a resource for understanding therapy costs. Patients are responsible for all payments not covered by insurance.

Patients should arrive 20 minutes early on their first day of therapy to register at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation reception desk on the 6th floor. Hospital-based outpatient therapy is part of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, located on the 6th floor of the hospital above the West Entrance. Wear comfortable weather-appropriate exercise clothing and bring any braces or gait devices currently in use, along with hearing aids and eyeglasses.

Call (319) 369-7331 to schedule or cancel you outpatient rehabilitation appointment.

• Spasticity management
• Pain management
• BOTOX injections
• Chronic pain
• Migraines
• Sports injuries
• Workplace injuries

Our comprehensive Spasticity Management Program is the first and most experienced program in the region.

The program offers the most experienced care available in the region for evaluating and treating the entire range of neurological conditions that cause spasticity. Our healthcare professionals provide a vast array of treatment options, including:

• Oral medications
• EMG guided botulinum (Botox™) injections
• Baclofen pump management
• Therapy
• Bracing

What is Spasticity?

Spasticity is tightness in the muscles that occurs after an injury to the brain, spinal cord or part of the muscles. A stroke is the most common cause of spasticity. Several studies show that spasticity occurs in up to 42 percent of patients after a stroke. This tightness can affect one or more limbs or even a patient’s back or neck muscles.

Spasticity can cause significant pain and disability.

The spasms associated with spasticity can cause:

• Tight fist
• Bent elbow
• Stiff knee
• Pointed foot
• Toe dragging
• Generalized stiffness in muscles

 

Therapy Plus helps patients with pain due to:

• Normal aging and overuse of joints and muscles
• Surgery, illness or chronic conditions
• Sports injuries, as well as personal and work-related injuries

Our goals are to:

• Minimize or completely relieve pain
• Increase strength, function and flexibility
• Help athletes reach their peak performance

We create a customized care plan that may include:

• Innovative therapies and technology
• Strengthening and stretching
• State-of-the-art pain management techniques

• Back and neck pain
• Hip, knee, foot and ankle pain
• Tendonitis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Urinary incontinence
• Lymphedema

Therapy Plus in Hiawatha is the first in the area to offer the AlterG anti-gravity treadmill. The treadmill is the only one that uses NASA-based anti-gravity technology, which helps patients with rehabilitation programs.

With the AlterG, patients can run and walk without bearing their entire weight, reducing the impact on the body and optimizing rehabilitation and physical therapy outcomes. Its Differential Air Pressure technology applies a lifting force to the body that reduces weight on the lower extremities and allows precise unweighting – up to 80 percent of a person's body weight – so people can find exactly where the pain stops, and natural movement feels good again.

AlterG can be used as part of your physical therapy. Most insurances require a doctor's order for physical therapy. However, the AlterG Treadmill Training program allows individuals to purchase sessions to train on the AlterG Treadmill without a doctor's order. The Alter G Training Program is ideal for runners but is available to athletes and participants looking for a cardiovascular workout without the full impact on joints.

For more information, call Therapy Plus in Hiawatha at (319) 369-8380.

The ASTYM System is a revolutionary, non-invasive therapy approach that treats soft tissue problems by rejuvenating muscles, tendons and ligaments.

How does it work?

The ASTYM System addresses problems such as scarring, fibrosis and degeneration that occur in soft tissues. These problems may develop as the result of trauma, overuse or surgery. ASTYM uses instruments along the surface of the skin to locate problem areas and start the body's healing process. A course of treatment also includes a custom-designed stretching and exercise program to help your body rebuild healthy tissue.

What issues can the ASTYM system treat?

The therapy system works well for many issues and injuries, including:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Tennis elbow
• Golfer's elbow
• Plantar fasciitis
• Knee pain
• Patellar tendonitis
• Achilles tendonitis
• Shin splints
• IT band syndrome
• Wrist and ankle sprains
• Post-surgical scarring and fibrosis
• Chronic neck pain
• Frozen shoulder

Aquatic physical therapy is rehabilitation that is done in a heated pool. Because water supports the body, it eliminates impact to stressed joints and decreases swelling so you can strengthen while you heal. Exercise instruction is given by licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who are trained in aquatic therapies.

An order from a healthcare provider and a physical therapy evaluation at St. Luke's are required before participating in aquatic physical therapy. Therapy is conducted by St. Luke's physical therapists at Bender Pool, 940 14th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids.

What are the benefits of aquatic physical therapy?

Aquatic physical therapy can increase:

• Circulation
• Strength and endurance
• Range of motion
• Balance and coordination
• Muscle tone

Who can benefit from aquatic physical therapy?

Therapy is especially beneficial to those dealing with or recovering from:

• Arthritis
• Chronic pain or fibromyalgia
• Joint replacement
• Neck/back pain
• Orthopaedic dysfunction or scoliosis
• Pregnancy
• Stroke
• Spinal cord injury
• Brain injury

 

Lymphedema is swelling that occurs from an accumulation of lymph fluid in the body, often in the arms or legs. It may result from:

• Removal of lymph nodes
• Abnormal or damaged lymph vessels
• Radiation treatment
• Other health conditions such as stroke, heart bypass, morbid obesity

Our Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT) treatment of lymphedema is an individualized plan of care customized for you.

CDT treatment to help train you to control the swelling may include:

• Manual lymphatic drainage via the Vodder technique to improve circulation of fluid in the lymph vessels
• Exercises to promote circulation, flexibility and strength
• Gradient compression bandaging and compression garments to help reduce swelling and improve circulation
• Education about the lymphatic system, ways to prevent and decrease the risk of infections, how to control swelling, the role of diet and nutrition and hygienic skin and nail care

Dry Needling is a safe, minimally invasive technique performed by specially trained and certified physical therapists. It inserts a very thin sterile solid filament needle (.3 mm) into a myofascial trigger point to relieve pressure and pain. A trigger point is a local or tight band in a muscle fiber that can disrupt function, restrict range of motion, refer pain or cause local tenderness.

When dry needling is applied, it can decrease banding or tightness, increase blood flow, and reduce local and referred pain. It's important to recognize dry needling is not acupuncture which treats along meridians and leaves needles in place longer. Dry needling treats myofascial trigger points/muscle knots of musculoskeletal conditions by eliciting biochemical changes and a local twitch response which breaks the pain cycle.

How do I start Dry Needling?

Dry Needling requires an order from a physician/provider that states, "Evaluate and treat for Physical Therapy and Dry Needling." Patients are asked to sign a waiver and disclosure of current health. There are some contraindications (reasons) for why treatment may not be appropriate, which the therapist can discuss with you. Dry Needling is offered as a treatment option that supplements 'traditional' physical therapy.

Does insurance cover Dry Needling?

Currently, Dry Needling is not covered by most insurances. If it is not covered, you will be asked to sign a form that you still want the treatment and understand that you will need to pay for the service out of pocket. You can discuss costs for this treatment with a scheduling/billing specialist at one of the Therapy Plus clinics.

Pain at the jaw (TMJ) disorders can cause pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) – the joint where the lower jawbone meets the skull. This joint is what allows you to talk and chew. A variety of problems can cause pain at the jaw: an injury to the area, arthritis or grinding or clenching your teeth.

Symptoms of a TMJ Disorder

• Pain when opening or closing your mouth
• Pain when chewing food
• Trouble fully opening your mouth
• Painful clicking and/or popping of the jaw

Our therapists provide:

• A thorough evaluation to determine the cause of your TMJ problems
• Education about TMJ anatomy and function
• Exercises and manual techniques to improve function and decrease pain
• Modalities such as an ultrasound or iontophoresis may also be used to decrease inflammation

Sports and injuries go hand-in-hand, but pain is your body's "service engine" light. Don't tough it out and end up sidelined, let the experts help. Therapy Plus offers physical therapy to keep athletes (and weekend warriors) in the game! We work with anyone age 10 and older. Athletes younger than age 10 can be seen at UnityPoint Health – St. Luke's Witwer Children's Therapy.

Benefits of Sports Therapy

• Quick access and efficient use of your time because we emphasize return-to-sports and active lifestyles – in two-fewer visits compared to national benchmarks!
• Pain reduction/pain alleviation, enhanced mobility and improved performance through the use of specialized treatment methods.
• Experienced physical therapists who are also dual-licensed as athletic trainers.

Physical therapy is affordable and typically covered by insurance plans. Therapy Plus staff will verify insurance benefits and discuss costs with you before your visit.

Appointments are available at four locations in Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Marion. Ask your provider for a referral or call (319) 369-8107 to learn more.

Helpful Sports Therapy Resources:

• Dehydration & Heat Illness Handout
• Risk & Prevention of Overuse Injuries Handout
• Reduce Your Risk of Youth Sports Injuries handout

Therapy Plus has experienced physical therapists specifically trained to treat issues affecting women. This specialty area continues to grow and encompasses many diagnoses throughout a women's lifespan. Women who experience pelvic floor or musculoskeletal dysfunction can significantly benefit from physical therapy. Our goal is to provide expert care in a comfortable and private atmosphere.

Our therapists treat a variety of women's health issues, including:

• Incontinence and pelvic pain
• Pregnancy and post-partum musculoskeletal concerns
• Sports injuries- from organized sports or personal fitness workouts
• Osteoporosis
• Breast cancer
• Lymphedema

All patient evaluations and treatments are provided under a written order by a physician or other healthcare provider such as a physician's assistant or nurse practitioner.

Physical therapy services are billed as hospital-based outpatient therapy. Some insurance plans may require prior approval. As a courtesy, our staff will assist you with checking your insurance benefits and coverage prior to your initial appointment.

Patients will need to pre-register before their appointment by calling (319) 369-8109.

Therapy Plus uses a text messaging system to send an appointment reminder to patients at 24-hours and one-hour prior to their appointment time.

Please arrive 15 minutes early on your first day of therapy to complete necessary paperwork. You can print our past medical history form, fill it out, and bring it with you to your first appointment:

• Complete this form if you are a UnityPoint Health patient
• Complete this form if you have not received care from a UnityPoint Health provider

For the medication section, we can make copies of your medication lists so you don't need to write them on the form. Helpful resource: Download the Medication Matters personal health record to record your medications.

What to Wear & Bring

Wear comfortable clothing and shoes, also bring any braces or devices you use for walking. Items you should bring with you include:

• Insurance card
• Photo identification
• List of current medications
• Order from physician's office if given to you to bring
• Your personal calendar, as your physical therapist will want to set up future appointments
• If you are being seen for work injury, you will need to bring your case manager's contact information if you have a case manager

Please allow an hour for your appointment. Subsequent appointments will be 30-45 minutes in length. Your physical therapist will discuss your medical history, the reason for your visit, limitations, and a plan of care to help reach your goals.

If you have questions or concerns about your first visit, please call your clinic location. We're happy to help you and thank you for choosing St. Luke's Therapy Plus.

Accommodations

If you have any special needs that may require additional accommodations or require an interpreter, please let us know so we can make the necessary arrangements to ensure you are as comfortable as possible and to ensure the best possible outcome.

Scheduling & Cancellations

To schedule or cancel an appointment call your clinic. (All clinics are open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

Please stay home if you have a fever, cough, sore throat or any other symptoms of illness. Please call to reschedule your appointment.

You can also sign up for MyUnityPoint electronic health record. With MyUnityPoint, you can view and/or cancel appointments, as well as correspond with your therapist and/or scheduling staff through this platform.