The goal of successful treatment is to help people regain mobility, eliminate deformity, improve function and promote independence.
Meeting these goals gives patients dignity and independence; and family caregivers also benefit from our patients’ newfound
mobility. The first step in effective treatment is diagnosis. To get a complete understanding of where and how deformity and
dysfunction originate, doctors at the Institute for Mobility Evaluation and Treatment use advanced computer technologies to
measure limb and muscle function. IMET’s
diagnostic labs are among the most sophisticated in the United States. Once our doctors have identified the affected muscles and understand
how a patient’s nerves control them, the IMET team carefully targets medical and surgical therapies to restore limb function.
Treatment options include both surgical and non-surgical interventions. Click a link below to learn more.
Surgical
Non-surgical
Surgical Treatments
Orthopaedic surgery can permanently change the unbalanced muscle forces that cause deformity. Our surgeons are skilled at transferring or lengthening
tendons to repair deformity and dysfunction. Surgeons also can remove the excessive bone caused by heterotopic ossification.
Non-surgical Treatments
Orthotics, casts and braces are custom-fit for each patient. These appliances fit on arms, feet and legs; they are used short-term for positioning after
surgery and long-term for enhancing functioning, mobility and limb use.
Physical and occupational therapy helps patients build on the gains made by surgery and medications. After muscles have been rebalanced, it is important to
relearn how to use them. Therapy helps patients develop exercise programs that can increase their range of motion, strength,
and coordination.
Therapeutic nerve blocks are medicines injected at a nerve or motor point in the body, usually phenol or botulin toxin (botox). These injections can
block spasticity by interrupting overactive nerve messages that cause muscle spasms and pain. Oral medications may also help.
