Neurorehabilitation care in Michigan
Our experienced neurologic physical therapists lead our outpatient Neuro Recovery Program at Ascension St. John Hospital. We provide specialized physical therapy for neurologic injury and diseases, including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury. Our rehabilitation care team listens to understand you and your health concerns. Then we work with you to create a personalized care plan that’s right for you. Our experienced care team and neurorehabilitation equipment and technology delivers advanced care for debilitating health conditions. We focus on helping you restore body and mental functions by stimulating your brain to form new mind-body connections, also called neural connections or neuroplasticity.
Our care team provides personalized care for many neurologic conditions and symptoms, including:
- Body paralysis
- Muscle weakness
- Foot drop
- Spasticity and tone
- Movement disorders
- Sensation changes
- Nerve pain
Rehabilitation techniques and equipment for targeted therapy
Our care team has advanced training in neurology rehabilitation. We utilize the most current rehabilitation techniques and equipment designed for neuro recovery. Many of these techniques include:
High-intensity cardio-respiratory training
Exercise that safely raises the body’s heart rate to a patient-specific target level, setting the stage for biochemical changes in the brain that promote neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections.
Task specific training
High repetition practice of patient-specific functional activities.
Error augmentation
An approach that helps the brain realize movement errors and provides the opportunity for the body to adapt faster.
A rehabilitation clinic for orthopedic and neurologic conditions
Our outpatient neuro recovery program offers a wide range of equipment and technology for targeted neurorehabilitation therapy including:
ZeroG-Lite ® and LiteGait ® is a zero-gravity treadmill with a body weight support system, so you can walk easier with less impact and without the risk of falling.
The Woodway(R) Split-Belt treadmill: By allowing one side or leg to move faster than the other it encourages weight shifting or longer step lengths during gait (or locomotor) training. This type of training is designed to help patients learn how to walk again.
Electrical stimulation devices Bioness(R) L300 for foot drop and H200 for hand paralysis help you move more freely while re-educating injured nerves and muscles.
SaeboReJoyce hand and upper extremity rehabilitation workstation and the ReoGo™ robotic arm provides computerized, task oriented training using fun, motivating games to perform repetitive activities of daily living.
APDM Moveo Explorer wearable sensors help measure and track your movements to track progress and assist with clinical decision making.
At Ascension St John Hospital, our care team delivers compassionate, personalized care and support. We are here to help you on your path to recovery from stroke, movement disorder, or a debilitating brain, nerve or spine injury.
Meet our team
Jeff Berger, PT, MPT, NCS
Jeff is the lead physical therapist in both the Outpatient NeuroRecovery and Inpatient Rehabilitation programs at Ascension St. John Hospital. He has over 25 years of experience working with patients that have neurological conditions and is a board certified specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy. He is also an accomplished lecturer on multiple topics including comprehensive rehabilitation after stroke and Parkinson's disease, and he is a guest speaker for the neurologic interventions course at Oakland University's Doctorate in Physical Therapy program.
Melissa Tye, PT, DPT, NCS
Melissa became a board certified specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy in 2020 due to her passion treating patients with neurological conditions. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Oakland University in 2015. Since working at Ascension St. John Hospital in both inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient care, she started the MIND OVER MATTER: Stroke & Brain Aneurysm Support Group.
