Paradigm’s Proactive Spine Care Plan can be customized for patients recovering from a variety of surgeries or diagnoses:

Procedures

• Lumbar fusion and non-fusion
• Cervical fusion and non-fusion
• Kyphoplasty
• Vertebroplasty
• Injection procedures

Diagnosis

• Stenosis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Radiculopathy
• Spinal instability
• Spasticity
• Mechanical disorders (Loss of motion, postural weakness, gait deviations, etc.)
• Osteoporosis
• Arthritis
• Adult scoliosis

Evaluate and formulate.

Rehabilitation begins with a thorough Physical Therapy Evaluation. The therapist will discuss the condition with the patient and formulate a set of customized goals. Once those goals are established, specific steps can be outlined for reaching them.

Training for progress.

Following the interventions identified during the evaluation, the therapist will work with the patient to achieve specific goals. In addition to providing hands-on therapy, the therapist may also help the patient learn:

These steps will help the patient realize improved balance with the spine functioning as the body’s anchor, as well as increased walking distance, sitting tolerance, and overall activity levels with less or no pain.

All the interventions and goals will focus on pain management and maximal recovery of the healing structures (muscles, ligaments, bones).

Self-help care for back and neck pain:

• Use of heat and cold
• Use of TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation)
• Gravitational traction
• How to improve muscular control in the rest of the body
• How to use stabilizing muscles for optimum spine protection
• The importance of postural positions to strengthen postural muscles

Sharing our strength.

The ultimate goal of our Proactive Spine Care Plan is to equip patients and their caregivers with the skills to self-manage the problem. Throughout the course of the rehabilitation, we place priority on sharing our expertise—what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. At the end of the program, the patient will understand how to:

• Relieve pain
• Unload and protect the spine
• Perform everyday activities safely
• Maintain strength and balance
• Live more confidently