WashU Medicine Physical Therapy offers specialized care for patients affected by limb loss.
Your Visit Includes:
- Prosthetic Care: Preparation before receiving a prosthesis and fit and adjustments with prosthetic when received
- Movement and Strength Training: Exercises to improve balance, coordination, gait, and musculoskeletal strength and range of motion
- Pain Education/Management: Pain management strategies for residual limb and phantom limb pain
- Return to Sport/Work: Re-training for sports and work activities
- Driving Assessment: Evaluating driving capabilities and needed adaptations
- Adaptive Equipment: Recommendations and guidance on assistive devices and effective wheelchair use
- Daily Training and Fall Recovery: Techniques for daily activities with a prosthesis, and strategies to prevent and recover from falls
Osseointegration:
Our highly skilled therapists are also trained to rehabilitate patients with limb loss who have undergone osseointegration surgery. Osseointegration limb replacement is a surgical procedure where a metal implant is anchored directly to the bone, which then attaches to a prosthesis. Osseointegration can eliminate socket-related difficulties including improper fit due to sweating, volume fluctuations and other skin-related issues. Our therapists work alongside you over a several months period to help guide you in using a bone-anchored prosthesis to maximize your functional mobility and quality of life after osseointegration surgery.
Our Approach:
Our therapists exclusively provide one-on-one care to provide evidence-based, individualized care and effective treatment plans. Our therapists design treatment plans based on your strength and movement needs, including all aspects of prosthesis management and training. We collaborate with prosthetists and offer wheelchair evaluations when needed.
Every WashU Medicine physical therapist holds a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree, with many having board-specialist certifications in specific areas of practice. Our clinicians are trusted experts in evaluating and treating conditions and are committed to providing comprehensive and compassionate care.