4 Areas of Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation means different things to different people, but the focus is the same. If we look at the Latin roots we see that rehabilitation means “again” with the prefix re-, and “make fit” with habitare. The DCW Rehabilitation Department has four main areas of specialty:

• Injury
• Muscular Imbalance
• Health Focused
• Athlete and Sport Specific

The most recognized of the four is our Injury Rehabilitation. This therapy helps individuals who were hurt in a car accident, in the work place, or simply going about their daily activities. The goal is to “make fit” the areas of the body that have suffered from injury resulting in pain, weakness, decreased range of motion, or any other symptomatic effect to restore full functionality. Injury Rehab happens once the patient is out of acute pain and it complements the chiropractic treatments.

Similar to Injury Rehab, Muscular Imbalance Rehabilitation (MIR) is designed to alleviate pain. The difference is that the pain may not originate from a specific injury. The imbalance could be due to years of living and the body simply compensating for a deficiency in a part of the body. A great example of this type of imbalance is text neck. Text neck is caused by the imbalance the neck sustains from constantly looking down at a wireless device. The goal in this area is to rehabilitate the under- and over-active areas of the body with stretching and strengthening to alleviate chronic pain and discomfort, plus increase overall quality of life.

The last two areas of focus in our Rehabilitation Department are less well known. Some individuals are looking to improve the management of a specific health condition. These conditions can range from cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, or hyperthyroidism. Other conditions that would benefit from Health Focused Rehab are weight loss or stress management. Many times people need an accountability partner, plus the support of a well trained staff to get started. In addition, specific rehab exercises are modified to accommodate the needs of the patient until progress is made. This prevents unnecessary injury or harm from happening.

The other less familiar specialty is our rehab work with athletes. Playing any sport runs the risk of injury. These injuries can range from micro- to macro-. A micro-injury results from the “wear and tear” on the athletes body from playing the sport. A macro-injury, on the other hand, is due to overuse or a single impact. With this type of injury the cause is much more easily identified.  In order to get the athlete back, specific training is required. Our focus is on utilizing sport specific stretching, strengthening, conditioning, and skill development to restore and maintain their elite athletic performance. From grade school, to high school and collegiate sports, time is of the essence. However, so too is ensuring the athlete has been fully rehabbed to prevent re-injury.

No matter where you are at in life, things happen. The good news is that when things happen, DCW can help make you fit once again.