Types of Therapies

Rehabilitation services in Hagerstown

There are many types of rehabilitation programs, each one designed to help patients overcome specific challenges caused by injury and disease. Meritus Physical Therapy offers a wide selection of rehabilitation programs. Learn more about what each of these programs involves.

In addition to the services outlined below, we also offer specialty therapy programs;

Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy is a dynamic profession with an established scientific base and widespread clinical application in the restoration, maintenance, and promotion of optimal physical function.

Physical therapists:

Diagnose and manage movement dysfunction and enhance physical and functional abilities
Restore, maintain and promote not only optimal physical function, but optimal wellness and fitness and optimal quality of life as it relates to movement and health.
Prevent the onset, symptoms, and progression of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities that may result from diseases, disorders, conditions or injuries

Our physical therapists work closely with patients and families to develop a personalized treatment plan to promote functional improvement and return to activities of life.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy concentrates on helping people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities or occupations. They work with individuals who have conditions that are mentally, physically, developmentally, socially or emotionally disabling.

Occupational therapists:

Perform an individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person's dysfunction, treatment plan and goals.
Provide customized interventions to improve the person's ability to perform daily activities and reach the goals.
Develops an outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or makes changes to the intervention plan.

Occupational therapists have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment to fit the person, and the person is an integral part of the therapy team.

Speech Therapy

Speech-language pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in patients. Speech, language and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, a cleft palate, cerebral palsy or emotional problems.

Speech therapists:

Work closely with patients and families to develop a personalized treatment plan to facilitate recovery and help patients improve or regain speaking ability.
Work with the individual to improve comprehension and memory skills, problem-solving, ability to swallow and the ability to speak clearly.
Help patients improve or regain functional language, communication, cognition and/or swallowing skills so as to be more successful in the home, classroom or work and the community.

Speak out logo Loud Crowd Logo

Meritus Physical Therapy is pleased to offer a two-part speech therapy program to help individuals with Parkinson’s regain and maintain effective communication: SPEAK OUT!^® followed by The LOUD Crowd^®.

SPEAK OUT!^® places emphasis on speaking with intent and converting speech from an automatic function to an intentional act. Together, patients and their speech-language pathologist work through a series of speech, voice, and cognitive exercises outlined in a SPEAK OUT!^® Workbook.

Upon completion of SPEAK OUT!^®, patients transition to The LOUD Crowd^®. This maintenance program consists of weekly group sessions led by a speech-language pathologist. The SPEAK OUT!^® exercises are performed, and group members provide support, encouragement, and accountability to one another.

Participation in The LOUD Crowd^®, along with daily home practice and six-month re-evaluations, has been shown to help patients maintain their communication skills throughout the progression of Parkinson’s. For more information about SPEAK OUT!^® and The LOUD Crowd^® or to schedule a speech evaluation, please call 301-714-4025.

Neurologic Rehabilitation

Meritus Physical Therapy leads the way in neurological recovery by combining hands-on therapy and the use of state-of-the art equipment and assistive technologies to evaluate, test and treat patients for effective and positive outcomes. Common neurological diagnoses seen in this program are stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, alateral sclerosis (ALS), and Guillian-Barre. Our program utilizes the following methods:

Aquatic therapy – using resistance, buoyancy and warmth of water, patients improve strength, balance and circulation in our multi-depth, heated therapy pool.

Balance master – utilizes a dynamic force plate and surround to test the function of visual, somatosensory, and vestibular systems for balance. The system can also look at patients Limits of Stability and Motor Control giving a fuller picture of the patients balance deficits. New InVision Testing Module allows the therapist to look closer at Perception Time, Gaze Stability, and Acuity with head turning activities. Training can then be tailored to patient using the moveable force plate, surround, and 5 foot force plate, along with the InVision training mode.

Bioness – wireless technology to help patients regain function of their leg or hand due to central nervous system disorders such as the diagnoses listed above. Bioness L300 Plus is for people living with foot drop and leg muscle weakness. The H200 Hand Rehabilitation System is used for retraining hand grasp and release functionality.

Dynavision – a premier light-training reaction device, used to retrain visual scanning and field of vision as well as hand-eye coordination.

LiteGait – a gait training device that provides proper posture, reduces weight bearing, eliminates concerns for balance, and facilitates the training of coordinated lower extremity movement. LiteGait offers a safe and effective environment to lift patients to stand, balance, and walk which contributes to a sense of accomplishment.

Saebo – a hand and arm orthosis that helps patients suffering from neurological and orthopedic impairments incorporate their hand functionally in therapy and at home. The proprietary tension system extends the patients fingers and thumb following grasping when mild to spasticity is present as well as finger extensors weakness.

Social Worker – our social worker and therapists work together as care service teams to facilitate the rehabilitation process and provide support that is consistently focused on the needs and goals of the patient.

Speech Therapy – our pathologists evaluate and design individualized treatment plans to facilitate swallowing, cognitive dysfunction, speech and voice or language skills to promote functional communication. We also provide SPEAK OUT! Therapy for Parkinson’s disease and provide outpatient modified barium swallow studies.

Stim Bike – Functional Electrical Stimulation cycling creates a patterned movement of the arms or legs, enabling the patients’ muscles to work and perform active cycling even though they may not have volitional control. Cycling is used for retraining arm and leg movement and function.

Aquatic Therapy

Using aquatic therapy, patients can often begin to exercise in the pool before they can do so on land. Therapists provide specific pool exercise programs for each patient in our heated 20'x40' pool.

Vision Assessment

We provide visual services and therapy to patients who experience visual problems due to stroke, head injury or other neurological disorders.

Lymphedema Treatment

For swelling that occurs in the arms, legs, or trunk due to problems with the lymphatic system, Meritus Physical Therapy offers a lymphedema management program. A specially trained and certified lymphedema therapist provides all lymphedema services including:

Manual lymphatic drainage
Skin care
Bandaging techniques
Therapeutic exercise

For more information on Lymphedema, please download our education presentation.

CranioSacral Therapy (CST)

CST is a gentle, light touch manual therapy with its roots in osteopathy. The craniosacral therapist gently mobilizes and releases the craniosacral system, which includes the soft tissue of the head (cranium), the spine down to its tail end (the sacral area), the pelvis, and myofascial diaphragms in between. If there is an imbalance or restriction in the system, it could cause sensory, motor, or neurological disabilities.

These techniques work to balance the environment in which the brain and spinal cord reside. CST works to re-teach the body to relax on a deeper level, de-programming old body habits and patterns, and disengaging persistent myofascial stress patterns.

CST is a whole body approach addressing the origins of pain and dysfunction and serves as a great adjunct to conventional therapy treatments. CST can be effective in treating the following:

Migraines and headaches
Chronic neck and back pain
Stress and tension-related disorders
Motor-coordination impairments
Infant and childhood disorders
Brain and spinal cord injuries
Chronic fatigue
Fibromyalgia
TMJ syndrome
Scoliosis
Central nervous system disorders
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Autism
Orthopedic programs

Vestibular/Balance Rehabilitation

Balance rehabilitation assists individuals with loss of balance, dizziness, spinning (vertigo), nausea/vomiting associated with movement and frequent falls. A thorough evaluation of the vestibular and neuromuscular system including strength, range of motion, head and eye movements, mobility, coordination, and balance improves patients' functionality and mobility and reduces their risk of falls.

After an evaluation by a highly skilled vestibular physical therapist, a treatment program is developed to address any deficits found during the evaluation and also establish a home exercise program with the patient. The treatment may include the use of an assistive device such as a cane or walker, therapeutic exercises and activities and may include the use of computerized balance equipment.

Balance and vestibular issues can arise from many diagnoses including:

Orthopedic injuries and conditions
Brain injury and post-concussion syndrome
Inner ear disorders (e.g. Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, Labryinthitis)
Stroke and other neurologic conditions
Effects of aging

Recommendations may be made to refer appropriate clients to occupational therapy to address impairments identified in the areas of vision, cognition, or activities of daily living.