Speech Therapy at Holzer Medical Therapy Center

Speech Therapy is provided by the Holzer Medical Therapy Center at both our Gallipolis and Jackson locations. If you wish to call or email the Medical Therapy Center, please visit our Medical Therapy Center contact page.

What is Speech Therapy?

Speech Therapy involves the rehabilitation and treatment of physical and cognitive problems that lead to difficulty with verbal communication. It aims to increase communication skills through a variety of efforts, including articulation, intonation, and phonology.

Speech Language Pathology is a profession that works with a diverse population from newborns to the elderly.

Speech Pathologists are responsible for assessing and diagnosing a wide range of speech disorders, including those involving swallowing and cognitive problems. Speech difficulties can arise as a result of stroke, head injury, surgery, brain tumor, and tracheotomy.

At Holzer, our Speech Language Pathologists are committed to providing quality services to maximize each patient’s functioning within his or her environment.

The speech therapists at Holzer Medical Therapy Center are also certified in "VitalStim" Therapy, the only FDA approved application of electrical stimulation to treat swallowing disorders.

Speech Therapy Services at Holzer Medical Center

Speech Therapy can be targeted toward restorative treatment, or it can center on compensating for irremediable difficulties. Many treatment plans use elements of both therapies.

Restorative efforts work to increase lip and tongue movement, as well as enhancing a patient’s ability to listen and understand language.

Strategies for compensation may include note-taking, using memory aids such as day planners and calendars, or improved organizational skills

Patients with dysphagia may have a modified diet recommended, excluding items too difficult to swallow. Your Speech Language Pathologist may include exercises to improve swallowing as a part of your therapy, as well as strategies to compensate for swallowing problems. At Holzer Medical Therapy Center, we offer the newest VitaStim Therapy for patients suffering from dysphagia. VitaStim is an effective new treatment when combined with traditional therapies.

Speech Pathology patients have an important role to play in their own treatment. It is important for each patient to learn about their diagnosis, treatment options, and practice activities that so that the rewards of therapy can be of maximum benefit.

At Holzer Medical Therapy Center, Speech Pathologists are qualified to treat a variety of disorders, including:

Speech

• Articulation disorders
• Phonological disorders
• Voice disorders
• Stuttering/fluency disorders

Language

• Difficulty in understanding
• Difficulty expressing

Swallowing

• Oral dysphagia
• Pharyngeal dysphagia

Cognition

• Mental awareness
• Memory problems
• Attention (hard to maintain)
• Difficulty in problem solving
• Sequencing
• Organization of thoughts

Augmentative and Alternative Communication

• Communication boards
• Voice synthesizers
• Computer devices

Hearing Impairment

• Aural rehabilitation

VitaStim Therapy

Holzer Medical Therapy Center offers VitaStim Therapy, a proven treatment for dysphagia, or difficulty in swallowing. Dysphagia has many possible causes including nervous system disorders such (stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease), scar tissue, diverticulum, radiation or operative injury following tumor treatment, or acute infections. Symptoms of dysphagia can include coughing while swallowing or after swallowing, choking on food or liquid, the sensation of food getting stuck in the throat, pain during swallowing, shortness of breath during feeding and onset of pneumonia.

VitaStim uses small electrical currents to stimulate the muscles involved in swallowing. Trained therapists help patients to re-educate their muscles through therapy. This small, carefully calibrated current is delivered to the motor nerves of the patient's throat through specially designed electrodes causing the muscles responsible for swallowing to contract. This is a painless, non-intrusive therapy.

Research shows that the combination of electrical stimulation and traditional treatment techniques is very effective at restoring swallowing function.

Contact Holzer Medical Therapy Center to learn more.

For more information regarding "VitalStim" Therapy, please visit www.vitalstimtherapy.com.

Locations

In Gallipolis - Enter the Holzer Medical Center in Gallipolis at the Ambulatory Surgical Center. Take the elevators to the basement floor and turn right. Go down the hallway until you will see the Holzer Medical Therapy Center office.

In Jackson - Enter the Holzer Medical Center in Jackson through the main doors. Turn left and walk down the hallway to the end and you will see the Holzer Medical Therapy Center department directly in front of you.
 

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