Older woman in a blue jacket stretches after exercising in the park

Rehabilitation

Our rehabilitation specialists are experts in helping you with every type of physical rehabilitation need including strengthening and recovering from injury, illness or surgery.

We use medical evidence, clinical research and the latest technology to recommend the best treatment options, set clear expectations, measure progress and answer all your questions along the way.

Your physical rehabilitation is guided by your personal goals. Your team of specialists is here when you need them, including extended hours, to help you keep making progress.

At HealthPartners and Park Nicollet, we offer a full range of physical rehabilitation programs and services, all provided by expert teams of rehabilitation specialists.

Our customized physical rehabilitation programs have helped thousands of people to improve their function, gain independence and get back to doing what they love. We offer:

    We work closely with you and your doctors to understand what you’re recovering from and what you want to achieve. Together, we’ll create a personalized rehabilitation plan that’s backed by the latest research.

    Types of physical rehabilitation we offer

    We have specialized rehabilitation programs customized just for you. We can help you regain strength, resolve back pain and recover from injuries or serious health conditions.

    Our clinics and specialty centers are designed to make it easy for you to get the help you need. Rehabilitation programs include physical, speech or occupational therapy.

    Physical therapy

    Injury, illness and surgery can make it hard to move. When this happens, you may need the assistance of a physical therapist who is specially trained to assess your condition, improve your mobility and help you return to doing the things that you love.

    Our physical therapists can help with:

    Mobility, walking and endurance
    If you are having difficulty with walking or moving, physical therapy can help by identifying the underlying causes. Specific strengthening, stretching, endurance or special techniques help you get back to moving.

    Flexibility and strengthening – When weakness or stiffness in your body keeps you from doing what you love, our therapists can guide you. We develop personalized strengthening and stretching programs which may include core strengthening, Pilates, yoga and weight training or other specialized exercises to meet your needs.

    Pain Sports, work or daily activities can result in pain, weakness or stiffness. Physical therapists (PTs) with special training work to reduce your pain and improve your mobility and strength.

    Spine – When you have back pain, our PTs can help you to return to the activities you enjoy. Utilizing the latest techniques and research, PTs will develop an individualized program for you to relieve pain, restore mobility, and improve flexibility and strength.

    Sports rehabilitationWhether you are a recreational or competitive athlete, you want to get back to your sport as quickly as possible. Our PTs have advanced training in the evaluation and treatment of the most common injuries in your sport. We use the most current research available to develop a treatment program and provide you with the best care.

    Balance problems and dizzinessWhether you have concerns about your balance or are experiencing dizziness, our PTs can help so that you can resume work, home, or sports activities safely. We use the latest technology and research to provide you with the best care.

    Lymphedema – If you have lymphedema, our specially trained therapists will evaluate and develop an individualized care plan that emphasizes self-management at home. Treatment options may include lymphatic massage, compression bandaging, recommendations for a compression garment and exercise.

    Wounds and burns Our PTs have advanced training in wound management techniques for wounds or burns that require more complex care. Therapists partner closely with your care team to ensure a comprehensive approach to healing.

    Work injuries – Whether you need work conditioning or return-to-work training, functional capacity evaluations, pre-work screens, ergonomic assessments and training, we can assist you in returning to work following an injury or change in status.

    Cardiac rehabilitation – When you have a cardiac event, cardiac rehab specialists can help you get back to your life in a safe and healthy way. Therapists guide you through the program and educate you in heart-healthy exercises for your future.

    Pelvic health – PTs can help you with a variety of concerns, including incontinence, pelvic pain and other conditions affecting the bowel, bladder and pelvic floor.

    Pediatric rehabilitation physical therapy – We can help your child with mobility and strength concerns resulting from developmental delays, torticollis, toe walking, sports injuries, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, concussion, pelvic health and a wide variety of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders. A multidisciplinary team approach is used for children who would also benefit from having occupational or speech therapy as well.

    Speech therapy

    If your condition is making it harder to communicate, you may need the help of a speech therapist. Speech therapists are experts in assessing and treating communication and swallowing disorders.

    Speech therapy provides comprehensive evaluation, education and treatment of patients with speech, language, cognitive, voice and swallowing impairments.

    Speech sounds – How we put sounds together to form words and communicate what we’re thinking with others is a complex task. Our therapists can help you tackle whatever is making speech difficult, whether it’s from muscle weakness, a hearing impairment, a stroke or a brain injury.

    Language and literacy – Language skills refer to our ability to understand what we hear, read and write, as well as our ability to use words to communicate. Literacy is defined by how well we can read and write as forms of communication. Problems with language and literacy can be caused by developmental delays or hearing issues in children, or by illness or injury in adults. Speech therapists can help improve language and literacy skills through a number of ways, including how to decode words, build vocabulary and understand inferences.

    Swallowing and feeding – Problems with feeding in infants and eating in children and adults can lead to issues with weight and nutrition. Difficulty swallowing can lead to increased risk of choking and aspiration pneumonia. Speech therapists have specialized training and competency to evaluate and manage swallowing issues.

    Voice – Having a voice that works when you need it is important to being able to communicate with confidence. Common voice problems may include sounding hoarse, experiencing weakness or vocal fatigue, or feeling pain with talking or singing. Speech therapists can help with these problems by teaching you how to take care of your voice and by teaching you how to use your voice more skillfully so that you get more sound for less work.

    Stuttering – Stuttering interrupts the flow of speech with repetitive sounds or long pauses while talking. Stuttering can occur in children and adults. Speech therapists can help improve stuttering by working with you to slow down speech, using cognitive therapy to promote ways of thinking that might reduce stuttering or suggesting electronic devices that can help enhance fluency.

    Vocal cord dysfunction/chronic cough – Vocal cord dysfunction, or VCD, happens when your vocal cords close when they should open, resulting in difficulty breathing. VCD is different from asthma in that the treatment isn't medication but rather learning to use breathing strategies taught by your speech therapist. Common triggers of VCD include exercise, stress, acid reflux, extreme temperature changes, smoke or strong odors. Speech therapists can help determine if your breathing difficulty is related to VCD and provide you with breathing strategies. Chronic cough is another problem that can be helped through behavioral management strategies taught by speech therapists.

    Cognitive communication – This is how well our mind works as we try to communicate, including our ability to remember, pay attention and solve problems. Issues with cognitive communication generally have an underlying cause, such as damage to the brain following a stroke. Speech therapists can help through techniques and exercises which aim to improve attention, memory and practice completing specific tasks.

    Social communication – Social communication is how well we understand social norms when communicating, such as how not to interrupt, how to read facial expressions and body language and the physical space allowed between yourself and the person you’re talking to. Speech therapy can help you learn social cues needed to communicate effectively and work through exercises, such as role-play conversations.

    Assistive technology – When you need to use a different method of communicating, such as through the use of a tablet or computer, speech therapy can help decide if technology may help improve communication and what device may work best.

    Occupational therapy

    Occupational therapy provides comprehensive evaluation, education and direct treatment of patients with physical, cognitive, visual or psychosocial impairments which affect daily living.

    Occupational therapists (OTs) have unique training in analyzing daily and work-related activities. Following an injury or medical condition, OTs can help you restore function and return to meaningful life activities. Occupational therapy will work on physical, cognitive and visual skills necessary to complete your daily tasks.

    Daily activities – Due to injury, illness or aging, individuals may find that daily activities such as eating, dressing, bathing, and home care tasks are more challenging. OTs are able to assess your ability to complete your daily activities and can help you master the task, or complete it in a new way.

    Physical limitations – Occupational therapists address the physical limitations you may have due to illness, injury or aging. OTs will assess deficit areas in physical limitations which may include, but aren't limited to, strength, coordination and sensation. They'll develop a plan to help improve your ability.

    Strengthening/conditioning – When illness or injury causes changes in strength, range of motion and coordination of your arms and hands, Occupational therapy can help you regain this function through individualized exercise, activity and home program instruction.

    Cognition – If you are experiencing memory changes or have been diagnosed with concussion, stroke or dementia, you can be seen for cognitive evaluation, safety evaluation or training in compensatory strategies.

    Hand therapy – Hand therapists specialize in treating the arm and hand for pain, weakness, loss of function or traumatic or repetitive injury. With the goal of restoring function, treatment may include mobilization, education, strengthening, re-training, adaptive equipment or custom splinting.

    Pain A variety of pain concerns can affect your participation in daily activities and quality of life. Many programs are available to help when you have conditions like headaches, migraines, chronic pain, post-surgical pain and hand and arm pain.

    Vision – A variety of diagnoses can impact your vision such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, neurological vision impairments, visual field loss, concussion or stroke. Low vision and vision rehabilitation programs can help restore function after changes in vision.

    Driving and community mobility – If you have concerns about driving safely or returning to driving, an occupational therapist can help to assess your specifics needs in order to drive safely. Occupational therapists work with you to establish the best means of mobility.

    Work injuries – Whether you need work conditioning or return-to-work training, functional capacity evaluations, pre-work screens, ergonomic assessments and training, we can assist you in returning to work following an injury or change in status.

    Pediatric rehabilitation – OTs can help improve your child’s participation in play, school and daily living skills when they experience difficulty with motor planning, coordination, handwriting, feeding, sensory integration and developmental delays.

    Lymphedema – If you have lymphedema, our specially trained therapists will evaluate and develop an individualized care plan that emphasizes self-management at home. Treatment options may include lymphatic massage, compression bandaging, recommendations for a compression garment and exercise.

    Who is physical rehabilitation for?

    At HealthPartners & Park Nicollet, we’ve customized rehabilitation programs for nearly every situation. Some of the most common types of physical rehabilitation we offer are:

    • Amputee rehabilitation
    • Back and neck pain rehabilitation
    • Cancer rehabilitation
    • Cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation
    • Concussion rehabilitation
    • Neurorehabilitation
    • Occupational rehabilitation
    • Orthopedic and musculoskeletal rehabilitation
    • Pain rehabilitation
    • Pediatric rehabilitation
    • Sports injury rehabilitation
    • Stroke and brain injury rehabilitation
    • Vestibular rehabilitation
    • Vision rehabilitation
    • Voice rehabilitation

    Other physical rehabilitation services we offer

    • Aquatic therapy
    • Blood flow restriction
    • Dry needling
    • Eating disorders rehabilitation
    • Fitness classes
    • Headache clinic
    • Home care
    • Inpatient rehabilitation
    • Lifestyle renewal
    • NeuroWell program
    • Parkinson's rehabilitation
    • Pilates
    • Recreational therapy
    • Rehabilitation psychology
    • Support groups
    • Yoga

    We have many convenient locations throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin to serve you. Evening and Saturday appointments are available. Please check with your insurance provider to determine if you need to see a doctor prior to your visit.

    Frequently asked questions (FAQs)