Physical Rehabilitation is the art and science of restoring, maintaining and promoting overall fitness and health. It’s a branch of medicine that requires patience, discipline and the will to persevere. These are attributes describing the staff at Lake Wales Medical Center’s Department of Rehabilitation Services.

The staff help patients become more physically functional, to decrease pain and provide improved quality of life. They accomplish those goals by providing services that help restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities as a result of injury or disease. Their patients include accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low back pain, arthritis, muscle strains, fractures, stroke, and other neurological problems.

On any given day, Therapists and licensed Therapist Assistants at Lake Wales Medical Center may help a patient learn to walk again, learn to speak again after a stroke or to regain mobility in a shoulder so they can once again hold their grandchild. Simply put, our therapists help to change lives.

Before beginning treatment, a therapist will examine a patient’s medical history, then test and measure strength, range of motion, balance and coordination, posture, muscle performance, respiration, and motor function. They also determine a patient’s ability to regain independence and reintegrate into the community or workplace after injury or illness. Then they develop treatment plans describing a treatment strategy, its purpose, and anticipated outcome to expedite recovery.