Rehab Select Blog

Are the symptoms of COPD making simple daily activities a struggle for you? While there is no cure for the disease, and the best help for COPD will come from treatment and medications prescribed by your health care team – and, of course, avoiding tobacco smoke – there are a number of other things you can do to help manage your symptoms more effectively. 

If your medical care providers feel that you need rehabilitation therapy after a serious illness, injury, surgery or a medical event, such as a heart attack or stroke, following that recommendation will mean making some decisions about your care. Usually, the first of those is whether to use outpatient therapy or inpatient rehab to meet your rehabilitation needs. Here, we'll go over 5 frequently asked questions – and their answers – about outpatient therapy to help you make a solid decision.

There are many types of rehabilitation therapy, each designed to address specific ranges of issues. What they all have in common is their primary goals: To help individuals recover from illness, injury, surgery, stroke, cardiac events or other medical issues and regain functional abilities and independence lost to these events. Here we'll outline 7 types of rehabilitation therapy commonly used in treatment plans designed to meet those goals.

If you are in need of the services at an inpatient rehabilitation facility, quality care and effective treatment are both essential to getting the best recovery and rehabilitation results. So what do you need to know to make sure that happens? Our quick guide to comparing inpatient rehab facilities can help you make a solid decision as you choose where you will get the rehabilitative care you need to get back on your feet and back to your life.

Inpatient physical therapy offers intensive rehabilitation therapy and comprehensive care to people who are affected by functional and/or medical difficulties. Common examples of when it is needed are the aftermath of a serious accident, illness or injury, during recovery from a stroke or cardiac event, or during surgical recovery, particularly orthopedic procedures. So how do you know if inpatient physical therapy is right for you?

Anxiety is a problem that many COPD sufferers struggle with as they manage the symptoms of the disease. It is a natural response to breathlessness, the decline in oxygen levels that occurs during these episodes triggering a stress response in the body. That stress response typically makes breathing even more difficult, which causes greater anxiety – a viscous cycle that can take a severe toll on a person's health and quality of life. For that reason, learning how to manage anxiety is very important in terms of coping with COPD day-to-day.

Have your medical care providers recommended that you spend some time in a multispecialty inpatient rehabilitation center? Such referrals are often made when patients are being discharged from the hospital but aren't physically or medically prepared to function safely and independently at home. An inpatient rehab stay can offer these patients the care and therapy they need to regain a level of health, function and independence that makes them and their healthcare team confident in their ability to manage on their own. So what can you expect from a stay in a multispecialty inpatient rehab?

Every community requires support and the River Region United Way is just one local organization that provides resources for a five-county region in Alabama. This includes, Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery, and Macon.

COPD is the third-leading cause of death among Americans, making it hard to control. Unfortunately, it is also a disease that is widespread: nearly 13 million adults in the United States have COPD, and almost 24 million have some evidence of lung problems that could be related to COPD.

While COPD has no cure, there are things that can be done to help make living with the condition easier. Because many people don’t get their COPD diagnosis until later in life, senior citizens are a population that often experience issues relating to its symptoms.

COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and is characterized by progressive damage to the airways that carry air into the lungs, as well as to lung tissue. This damage gradually reduces pulmonary function, causing breathing difficulties. If you have been newly diagnosed with COPD, you are likely to have a lot of questions about this disease and how it will affect your life in the coming years.