Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Rehabilitation that moves you forward
At Penn Medicine, our physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) doctors, also known as physiatrists, help to maximize your recovery when you have a condition that affects your brain, nerves, bones, or muscles. We focus on improving how you function—helping you move better, reducing your pain, and avoiding surgery whenever possible.
Our PM&R physicians are trained to provide the highest level of rehabilitation services to people of all ages and for many types of conditions, from complex injuries to cancer treatment side effects. Many of our doctors also have subspecialty training such as traumatic brain injury, sports medicine, cancer rehabilitation, and spinal cord injury or interventional spine medicine. And because we’re an academic medical center, we understand how to best treat your condition because we lead the research that brings about new treatments and therapies.
Our high standard of comprehensive physical medicine
When you come to Penn Medicine, you’ll have access to traditional therapies, including medication, injections, and minimally invasive procedures. We also offer unique treatment options you won’t find anywhere else. Some treatments are provided in our office, but we may also seamlessly integrate your care with other expert providers across the health system. You may receive care from our colleagues in physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, or other clinical specialties such as orthopaedics, neurosurgery, and neurology.
If you need acute rehabilitation while you’re a patient at one of our hospitals, we provide inpatient services led by a multispecialty team that includes round-the-clock care for conditions that require an overnight stay. Your well-being and ability to function are important to us. We ensure you receive care that puts you first.
Improving outcomes with full-spectrum, specialized rehabilitation
Our comprehensive approach to your rehabilitation may begin with diagnostic tests to identify what’s causing your symptoms so that we can design a treatment plan that fully addresses your needs. These may include electrodiagnostic tests such as an EMG or a nerve conduction study (NCS). Once you have a precise diagnosis, we develop a treatment plan based on your goals. We can help with pain management, such as cryoneurolysis for spasticity, and many other key areas of rehabilitation including:
One of the few programs of its kind in the country, our cancer rehabilitation program addresses your unique needs during and after cancer treatment. Nearly everyone who has experienced deconditioning during cancer treatment can benefit from our services. We help relieve pain and swelling, restore mobility and strength, and reduce fatigue through inpatient and outpatient services. Penn’s physiatrists collaborate with providers at the Abramson Cancer Center and other specialty areas. Oncologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and nutritionists may all be part of your rehabilitation care.
Conditions that affect your muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, or nerves are treated by our musculoskeletal experts. Through both inpatient and outpatient care, our specialists can help you recover from surgery and injuries such as tendon tears, joint dislocations, and fractures, as well as manage pain from arthritis, osteoporosis, a pinched nerve, and many other conditions. Our treatments include medication, injections, and partnering with physical and/or occupational therapy to help relieve pain and restore your mobility.
Sports rehabilitation specialists at Penn commonly treat a range of injuries, including shin splints, ankle sprains, overuse injuries, meniscal tears, and dislocations. As part of Penn’s sports medicine program, we collaborate with experts in other specialties to treat people of all abilities, from those who play sports recreationally to professional athletes.
When choosing treatment options, we use the least invasive approach possible to achieve the best outcomes, which may include medication, injections, minimally invasive procedures, or partnering with physical therapy. Regenerative treatments that use your body’s own cells to help you recover after an injury may also be an option, like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections that can be used for sports injuries, arthritis, and other conditions.
Neurological conditions like a stroke, a traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and other disorders can affect your mobility, strength, and ability to perform daily tasks. We create a complete recovery plan using a variety of therapies and treatments, which may include vestibular rehabilitation to treat dizziness and Botox injections or cryoneurolysis to treat spasticity.
Our PM&R doctors are part of Penn’s spine care program and provide treatments that can relieve back and neck pain resulting from a degenerative condition or spinal cord injury, including therapies not widely available at other health care centers. Often, we can help you find relief through nonsurgical treatments, like spinal injections and nerve blocks, fluoroscopic-guided (x-ray) injections, and by partnering with physical therapy. We also offer specialized minimally invasive procedures, like radiofrequency ablation to disable a part of the nerve, kyphoplasty to treat compression fractures in your spine, and infusion pumps that deliver pain medication to spinal fluid. When surgery is needed, we coordinate your care with our top spinal surgeons.
Our amputation care specialists create an individualized treatment plan to maximize independence and restore physical function. You’ll receive quality care from a team of rehabilitation specialists led by expert physiatrists in partnership with occupational therapists, physical therapists, prosthetists, and rehabilitation nurses. We do more than the fitting of a prosthesis—we help you develop skills that empower you to live a fulfilling life and achieve your personal goals. This may include wheelchair and scooter evaluations to help you obtain the equipment you need.
If you’re facing symptoms such as constipation, incontinence, pelvic pain, or an overactive bladder, pelvic floor therapy could help you find relief and improved quality of life. In partnership with urology, urogynecology, and physical therapy specialists, our team offers personalized treatment options that help to strengthen pelvic floor muscles through physical therapy, biofeedback, and reconstructive surgery.
Some people continue to experience symptoms of weakness, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and other physical or cognitive difficulties that linger for weeks or months after a COVID-19 infection. We offer care in coordination with physical and occupational therapists to help you address these issues and improve your quality of life.
Answers to common questions about PM&R
We want you to have all the information you need about our services and treatment options. Learn more about what you can expect when you see a Penn Medicine physiatrist and find answers to other frequently asked questions about our PM&R care.
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