Therapy Services in Montclair, NJ
The physical therapy and rehabilitation unit at Mountainside Medical Center is staffed by a team of skilled physical therapists committed to helping you heal. Our goal is to help maximize your independence and prepare you for your next steps, whether that’s getting back into sports, returning to work, or living independently. We offer physical therapy, sports medicine, pulmonary rehabilitation, speech therapy, and occupational therapy programs to help you develop, maintain, or restore movement and functional ability. With personalized treatments, leading-edge technology, and compassionate care, our physical therapists deliver exceptional rehabilitative care that you and your loved ones can depend on.
Physical Therapy
We offer both acute care and outpatient services at our rehabilitation unit. Immediate rehabilitation therapy is often a crucial part of the treatment and recovery process for hospital patients. Bedside assistance is provided for all patients who need support regaining their strength, balance, mobility and/or dexterity during their hospital stay. Our outpatient rehabilitation program is open to anyone who has been prescribed physical or occupational therapy by their physician.
There is no such thing as a “typical” rehabilitation therapy patient because there are various reasons a person might require rehabilitation. Rehabilitation can be helpful to a variety of people and their unique condition and needs, including children born with disabilities, adults recovering from a sports injury, and senior citizens with orthopedic or neurological conditions. In all of these instances and many more, physical and occupational therapy can effectively alleviate pain, rebuild your strength, restore function, and limit or prevent permanent impairment.
Our physical therapy unit provides a variety of treatments, services, and resources, including:
- Diverse treatment approaches for balance dysfunction
- Fitness assessments
- Functional training and exercises for everyday activities
- Injury prevention and rehabilitation
- Pediatric rehabilitation, including hand and stroke rehab
- Post-concussion syndrome rehabilitation
- Pre and post-surgery rehabilitation
- Sports pre-seasons injury screening
- Sports-specific physical therapy (sports medicine)
- Stroke rehabilitation
- Tools and motivation to help you recover from an injury
- Trigger point dry needling therapy
Our patients are treated by doctors of physical therapy, and every clinician will provide a personalized care plan for you following an initial one-on-one evaluation. Using a comprehensive array of therapeutic techniques, we work diligently with our patients to achieve specific individual milestones, such as increasing muscle strength, enhancing cardiopulmonary function, and improving balance and coordination.
Please note the following forms for new physical therapy patients:
- Lower back and pelvis intake sheet
- Lower extremity intake sheet
- Neck and upper back intake sheet
- Upper extremity intake sheet
Sports Medicine
Despite being commonly connected to athletes, injuries requiring sports medicine care can happen anywhere, not just on athletic fields. People of all ages who exercise regularly or sporadically, participate in amateur sports, live an active lifestyle, or have an active job can benefit from seeing a sports medicine doctor or specialist.
When injuries occur and conditions develop, our sports medicine doctors are ready to provide surgical and non-surgical care. Our goal is to get patients back to their activities quickly, safely and fully recovered. Some of the most common sports- and exercise-related conditions we treat include:
- Dislocations
- Fractures
- Ligament injuries, such as ACL, LCL, MCL and meniscus tears
- Repetitive motion injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow
- Sprains
- Tendinitis, such as golfer’s elbow
- Tendon injuries, such as rotator cuff and Achilles tendon injuries
- Other sports-related injuries, such as pulled muscles
- Orthopedic surgical conditions
Please call us to learn more about our sports medicine services.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists are dedicated to upper extremity rehabilitation, and they are qualified to provide comprehensive assessments and treatment. At Mountainside Medical Center, our occupational therapists provide specialized treatments for an array of conditions, including:
- Arthritis
- Carpal Tunnel syndrome
- Fractures and joint injuries
- Nerve compressions
- Neurological concerns (TBI, CVA, MS)
- Sports injuries
- Strains and sprains
- Tendon injuries
- Tendonitis
The goal of occupational therapy is to restore or improve function to enable a patient to live independently and without pain. Occupational therapy treatments involve purposeful activities designed to improve balance ,coordination, strength, range of motion, and visual and cognitive skills.
We provide evaluations and treatment services for children and adolescents who are not yet reaching their developmental potential. Outpatient occupational therapy consists of an assessment of your child’s overall independent functioning. These evaluations help our occupational therapists identify areas of concern and delay including gross motor, fine motor, visual, and sensory processing skills.
We provide occupational therapy on an outpatient basis at the Harries Pavilion, and on an inpatient basis at the Transitional Care Unit. We also offer occupational therapy on acute care floors whenever needed.
Please note the following forms for new occupational therapy patients:
Speech Therapy
The speech therapy team at Mountainside Medical Center provides care for a range of speech, language, swallowing and voice concerns experienced by patients of all ages. Our team is made up of speech-language pathologists licensed by the state and certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
Using state-of-the-art instrumentation and the most current and effective treatment options, we offer the following specialized services for children, adults, and senior citizens:
- Aphasia evaluations and therapy
- Dysphagia evaluations and therapy
- Fluency therapy
- Foreign accent reduction
- Lee Silverman Voice Therapy® (LSVT)
- Orofacial myofunctional “tongue thrust” therapy
- Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets® (PROMPT)
- Speech and language evaluations and therapy
- Stuttering evaluations and therapy
- Video fluoroscopic swallowing exam (modified barium swallow test)
- Voice evaluations and therapy
We also provide a variety of community and professional services, including annual community education programs about speech and language development, voice care, and voice disorders. In addition, we offer closed-circuit television access that allows patients and other authorized caregivers to view their loved ones’ therapy and evaluation sessions.
Please note the following forms for new speech therapy patients:
Parkinson’s Disease Program
Making an accurate diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease can be difficult, but at Mountainside Medical Center, we use a variety of tools to help us identify the right symptoms. One of our tools includes the DaTscan. This scan uses small amounts of a radioactive drug to light up dopamine transporters in the brain. DaTscans can be used to accurately differentiate Parkinson’s disease from other movement disorders.
Exercise also has many benefits for patients with Parkinson’s disease, which is why physical therapy is an essential part of treatment. Our physical therapy provides the following therapies:
- Audiology — Parkinson’s disease can affect your ability to hear. For that reason, we offer hearing evaluations to identify how best to manage your communication skills in the presence of Parkinson’s and potential hearing loss.
- Dysphagia and swallowing treatments — Clinical swallow evaluations and modified barium swallow tests are performed for patients with swallowing issues. Our therapeutic treatments include diet modification and exercises that target the mouth and throat muscles to improve swallowing abilities.
- Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT)-BIG — This high-intensity program is held four times a week and aims to improve posture and gait. LSVT-BIG helps to increase the range of your movements and improve functional mobility, coordination, and balance.
- LSVT LOUD — This program trains patients to use their voice at a more normal level of loudness. Our two LSVT-LOUD specialists help people recalibrate their perception so they know how loud or soft their voice sounds to other people.
- Speak Out! — Using educational resources, individual speech therapy and ongoing group sessions, this program helps prevent Parkinson’s patients from developing a weakened voice.
- Traditional physical therapy — Held one to three times per week, this program is tailored to each individual patient’s needs. Treatments may include balance and strength training, as well as coordination, strength, and flexibility exercises.
- Traditional speech therapy — For patients who are unable to perform the intensive exercises in the LSVT-LOUD and Speak Out! Programs, we offer traditional speech therapy.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Our pulmonary rehabilitation team can help improve quality of life for patients with respiratory conditions. We utilize medically prescribed and supervised exercise, education, and support to meet every patient’s unique needs.
Our program offers a wide range of outpatient services designed to help you achieve independence. This includes:
- Energy conservation techniques
- Exercise reconditioning
- Nutritional counseling
- Pulmonary health education
- Psychological support and counseling
- Smoking cessation
To make an appointment with a pulmonary rehab therapist, please obtain a physician’s referral first. You can learn more about our rehabilitation services by clicking here.
Lymphedema management program
Lymphedema is a swelling in the arms or legs that is sometimes a side effect of breast cancer treatment, though blockage in the lymphatic system is related to other conditions as well. We offer a special manual lymphatic drainage(MLD) therapy for our patients with this often painful condition. Our Lymphedema Management Program helps patients recovering from injury, surgical trauma, chronic conditions, inflammation and edema.
A therapist certified in manual lymphatic drainage applies rhythmic massage techniques using repetitive, precise hand movements applied lightly in the direction of lymph flow. MLD accelerates and improves functioning of the patient’s lymphatic system.