If you are a spinal cord injury, it is necessary to recover from it. You will probably need surgery and the round-the-clock supervision of doctors.

In the USA, there are public and private rehabilitation centers. This article is about trauma rehabilitation centers, services, costs, and more.

When you need rehabilitation in the center

Recovery in a medical center is the second stage of rehabilitation. You can get there from a 24-hour hospital after treatment or later. Rehabilitation courses make sense as long as the rehabilitation potential remains – the body’s ability to recover from injury or illness.

If you have a broken arm, rehabilitation at home or in a day hospital may be enough. But if you have a spinal cord injury, it is better not to skip the rehabilitation phase at the center for the following reasons.

• Observation and care. In the center, the patient is under the round-the-clock supervision of the medical staff. If during classes he or she becomes ill due to the fact that glucose has dropped, blood pressure rises, muscle contracted, or for any other reason, doctors will immediately help;
• Adaptation. After hospitalization, a person is often not adapted to life with disabilities. Rehabilitation centers are designed in such a way that the patient learns how to do everyday activities in new conditions, understand how to use ramps, handrails, freight elevators. In addition, doctors explain how to act when there are no comfortable conditions. For example, how to get off the floor if you have a hip prosthesis and there are no handrails or people nearby. It is then easier for you to take care of yourself when you return home;
• Equipment. Rehabilitation centers have simulators and equipment that cannot be installed at home and that are rarely found in day hospitals, such as a verticalizing table;
• Training. At home, you can do the exercises incorrectly and harm yourself. In the center, doctors will show you how to do it correctly, will follow the process and provide insurance.

How much does rehabilitation cost?

• Free state centers – here you can undergo rehabilitation for free or for a small fee. You can count on staying in the ward, food, medication and instrumental treatment and examination for the underlying disease;
• Private rehabilitation centers – the average price is $1,500 per day. This cost includes accommodation, meals, rehabilitation procedures, and sometimes a transfer from the airport to the clinic and back.

When you urgently need money for trauma rehabilitation, an online loan can become a good solution in this case. Borrowing money for rehabilitation may be beneficial for the patient since it allows you to solve the health issue as quickly and efficiently as possible and quickly return to a normal life.

There are many lenders that offer loans online. An example is Cash Now. You can read cashnow com reviews on the website of Cardinal Bank – this is a independent online portal where you can find reviews on various lenders providing online loans. Here you can compare offers from multiple lenders, find out rates and terms, see the company’s rating, read testimonials from unbiased customers. This website will help you find the right lender for your needs.

License

Any rehabilitation center is a medical organization. Check if the center has a license to work. Scans of the license can be found on the website of the center or you can ask to provide it during your visit.

A valid license guarantees that:

1. Doctors and nurses have valid certificates, which they confirm in a timely manner;
2. The medical equipment is working properly;
3. The premises of the center are safe.

If you have doubts about the competence of doctors or the quality of medical services, you can go to the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) website to check the center for compliance with the license.

Specialists

Rehabilitation is a complex of restorative procedures and teamwork that one doctor cannot cope with. Therefore, different specialists must work in the center for rehabilitation. Here are the main ones.

• A general practitioner or a rehabilitation physician. This specialist monitors the general condition of the patient, prescribes medications, examinations, consultations with other specialists and determines the restrictions on the load;
• Physical therapist. This specialist helps restore movement through exercise, train coordination and balance;
• Ergotherapist. This specialist teaches self-service skills: eating, dressing, combing hair, brushing teeth;
• Neuropsychologist. This specialist assesses the patient’s memory and thinking and helps to restore them;
• Speech therapist. This specialist restores speech, chewing and swallowing;
• Clinical psychologist or psychotherapist. This specialist is invited if the patient develops a post-traumatic disorder, depression, or exacerbated psychological problems.

Depending on the injury or illness, it may be necessary to observe or consult with doctors of other narrow specialties.

Center structure

Ask the staff at the rehabilitation center to give you or your family a tour. Note the presence of ramps, handrails, lifts and lifts. It depends on whether it will be convenient to move around the clinic. The wards should have functional beds that are adjustable in height and angle, and panic buttons for calling the medical staff, handrails and rugs in showers and toilets.

If it is not possible to visit the center, you can find out about how it works by phone. Some centers host virtual tours on their websites.

Services

Some rehabilitation centers offer an all-inclusive program. In this case, you need to pay a fixed amount for the rehabilitation course and not pay extra for additional services in the process.

At the same time, the program is different for different centers, it may include:

1. Accommodation;
2. Nutrition;
3. Nursing care;
4. Medical care if stoma, catheter or pressure sores are present;
5. Fixed number and time of sessions with a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, neuropsychologist;
6. Consultations of doctors;
7. Tests, such as a blood sugar test or an MRI of the brain;
8. Medicines;
9. Accommodation of an accompanying relative;
10. Transportation of the patient to the clinic and home;
11. Consultation with an occupational therapist or rehabilitation therapist on how to make your home environment more comfortable.

Other centers operate on a price list, and services must be selected based on the doctor’s recommendations and their own financial capabilities. In this case, the price for each patient will be individual.

Which rehabilitation program to choose

When a patient needs one physical therapist session and one doctor’s appointment a day, the price list will be more favorable. It is best to choose an all-inclusive course for rehabilitation after a stroke or a spinal cord injury. A large team of specialists works with such patients, they need 4-6 hours of classes a day, supervision of a doctor on duty, various drugs and medical care. In this case, the price list is likely to be higher.

Even if the patient pays for the course at a fixed cost, he or she may need medical transportation or diagnostics, such as an MRI, to view the structure in the spine. You almost always have to pay for this separately, as an additional service.

Additional services are different for each center. Somewhere patient care is included in the price, but somewhere you need to come with your nurse or pay extra to the center. If the center offers to make a deposit but does not say the final amount, ask them to tell what services may be needed and find out the cost limit.

Top 3 trauma rehab centers in the USA

TIRR Memorial Hermann

TIRR Memorial Hermann has been one of the three best rehabilitation clinics in the United States for many years. It is more than a medical center: here you come back to life if you have undergone serious injuries, amputation operations, burns. The qualifications of doctors, the capabilities and programs of the center allow patients not only to restore a high quality of life but also to significantly reduce the cost of post-traumatic treatment.

The main directions of rehabilitation and physiotherapy are traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, spinal injury, preparation and rehabilitation of patients after amputation, rehabilitation after a stroke, sports injury, burns (chemical, thermal, electrical).

Atkinson Spinal Physical Therapy

The clinic specializes in physiotherapy programs that help relieve pain in the neck, back, lower back and lower extremities caused by a sedentary lifestyle. The head of the center has been solving the problem of chronic and acute pain for more than 40 years: thanks to her experience and author’s methods, patients manage to completely restore freedom of movement and get rid of discomfort after 4-6 sessions. Much attention is paid not only to getting rid of pain with the help of manual practices but also to the prevention of its occurrence.

Cole Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy

The goal followed by the specialists of the center is to restore the physical activity of each patient, to live without pain and restrictions, to develop the maximum physical potential of everyone who applied for treatment. This becomes possible thanks to individual programs for each patient and highly experienced doctors. The main areas of patient rehabilitation include recovery after traumatic brain injury, stroke, shoulder injuries (including dislocations, dislocations and ligament ruptures), as well as after amputation and subsequent prosthetics. Patients who need vestibular rehabilitation (dizziness, gait disturbance) come here. The physiotherapists of the center have extensive experience in sports medicine: whether you are a professional athlete or not, you can be offered the most effective recovery program, which includes ultrasound and electrical stimulation. The treatment and recovery plan may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, pain management programs, and sessions with a speech therapist. After the rehabilitation course, the specialists of the center advise and support patients.