Physical and Occupational Therapy

Physical and Occupational Therapy in Central Massachusetts

The UMass Memorial Health team provides the full range of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) services, including:

Physical Therapy

Our skilled physical therapists guide you through exercises and activities that help you increase motion, strength and balance. We also offer custom orthotics, prosthetics, assistive devices and pain relief techniques

Outpatient PT is available at UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance Clinton Hospital, UMass Memorial Health – Marlborough Hospital and UMass Memorial Health – Harrington.

We also provide inpatient PT at UMass Memorial Medical Center. This service provides patients with expert rehabilitation therapy before they go home after a hospital stay or surgery.

PT focuses on your large muscle groups, such as those in your legs, arms and abdomen. You may need PT after having surgery or if an area of your body becomes weakened or stiff. Your doctor may also prescribe PT if pain interferes with your life. This type of therapy benefits children and adults with:

• Acute injuries
• Amputation
• Arthritis and chronic pain conditions
• Congenital (present at birth) conditions affecting your mobility
• Chronic (long-term) or acute (sudden) pain in bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons
• Falls prevention
• Injury Prevention
• Musculoskeletal injuries from sports or accidents
• Neurological (brain, nerves and spine) conditions like stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Parkinsons' Disease
• Soft tissue injuries, like tendonitis

Occupational Therapy

Outpatient OT services are available in all UMass Memorial Health locations across Central Massachusetts. This therapy helps you with small muscle skills, such as grasping and writing, as well as cognitive (thinking) and visual skills. We help you find healthy ways to work, learn and play if you’ve been affected by:

• Amputation
• Arthritis that affects your ability to use smaller muscles, like your hands
• Congenital conditions that interfere with school or work
• Learning differences and disabilities
• Orthopedic injuries
• Sensory processing disorders
• Stroke
• TBI

Other services include: 

Lymphedema Therapy 

The pain and swelling from lymphedema can interfere with your life, but it doesn’t have to. Our skilled, compassionate lymphedema therapists provide noninvasive treatment to manage swelling and help you regain your function. Several UMass Memorial Health locations offer this specialized service.

Treatments we provide:

We work with your referring physician and carefully evaluate your needs to create your therapy plan, which may include: 

• Complete decongestive therapy (CDT): We drain excess lymph fluid using manual (hand) techniques and compression bandages.
• Compression garment fitting: Compression garments (tight-fitting, elastic pieces of clothing) can help you manage swelling at home. Our therapists help you find garments that are safe and comfortable for you.
• Education: Knowing how to care for lymphedema at home is a key part of your treatment plan. We empower you with information about skin care and ways to manage symptoms at home.      
• Specialized exercises: We guide you through movements that relieve lymphedema symptoms, including stretching, strengthening and aerobic exercises. 

Neurologic Rehabilitation

We provide neurologic rehabilitation, or neuro physical therapy, for patients with brain, spine or nerve damage. This highly specialized program combines PT, OT and speech therapy and is available at UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital. Our neurologic rehab specialists help patients with any neurological condition or injury, including:

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
• Cerebral palsy
• Concussions
• Movement disorders
• Muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular diseases
• Parkinson’s disease
• Spinal cord or brain injuries
• Stroke

Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

Pelvic floor PT helps adults of any age or gender regain strength and control in the pelvic floor muscles after illness, injury or surgery. This therapy is available at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance Clinton Hospital, UMass Memorial Health – Harrington and UMass Memorial Health – Marlborough Hospital . Our compassionate physical therapists help people with: 

• Bladder and bowel incontinence (accidents or leakage)
• Coccyx (tailbone) pain
• Constipation
• Frequent or urgent need to urinate
• Pelvic organ prolapse (POP)
• Pelvic pain

Vestibular Rehabilitation

Our vestibular rehabilitation therapists have advanced training in managing inner ear problems affecting your balance. Our treatment includes special exercises and maneuvers that can reduce or eliminate dizziness from:

• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)
• Ménière disease
• Labyrinthitis
• Stroke or TBI
• Vestibular neuritis

Sports Physical Therapy

Our sports physical therapists care for children and adults with all types of sports injuries. We also help athletes safely return to their sport after surgery or a concussion. Choose from several locations, including the Center for Sports and Physical Therapy at UMass Memorial Health – Marlborough Hospital, the Sports Medicine Physical Therapy program at UMass Memorial Health – HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital or UMass Memorial Health – Harrington.

Golf Fitness Program

This program, available at UMass Memorial Health – Marlborough Hospital, helps golfers improve their movement and prevent or recover from injuries. Our trained golf specialist guides you through golf-specific rehabilitation exercises. We provide a 60- to 90-minute individual assessment of your:

• Flexibility
• Range of motion
• Strength
• Swing