Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation provides integrated care for your muscles, bones and joints, combining diagnosis, treatment, education and rehabilitation. Physical medicine physicians, called physiatrists, are experts in nerves, muscles and bones. Our goal is to help people disabled by disease or injury remain as active as possible.

After learning about your condition, our providers will offer tools and resources to manage your condition. Together, you will create an individualized plan to restore movement and function using nonsurgical treatment options as a first choice, which can include therapeutic exercises, medications, a variety of injections, braces or other assistive devices.

Coordinating your care

To determine an accurate diagnosis to develop successful treatment options for you, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation providers may use detailed medical histories or physical exams, or imaging or nerve conduction studies.

To maximize care, our providers may refer you to specialists, including surgeons. If surgery is needed, your provider will work with you and your surgeon before and after surgery. We have direct access to local providers and specialists at Mayo Clinic.

Providers may refer you to the these teams:

Adult and pediatric sports medicine
Arthritis in the knee, shoulder, hip, wrist and hand, elbow, or foot and ankle
Elbow pain related to tennis elbow, golfers elbow or bursitis
Foot and ankle pain related to sprains, tendonitis, plantar fasciitis or shin splints
Fractures, such as stress or compression fractures
Hip pain related to bursitis, tendonitis, piriformis syndrome, impingement or strain
Knee pain related to tendonitis, Baker’s cyst, meniscus tears, sprains or IT band
Ligament, joint and tendon injuries, conditions and disorders
Low back pain related to disc disease, arthritis, herniated disc, spinal stenosis or strain
Neck pain related to disc disease, arthritis, herniated disc, spinal stenosis or strain
Nerve disorders, such as sciatica, carpal tunnel or tarsal tunnel
Shoulder pain related to rotator cuff tears, tendonitis, bursitis, frozen shoulder or impingement
Sports-related concussions
Wrist or hand pain related to tendonitis, trigger finger or ganglion cysts

Treatment technologies

Advanced technologies are available through Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and other departments to reduce pain and increase function.

Treatment technologies include:

Botox
Diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound
Electrodiagnostics, including electromyography and nerve conduction studies
Evaluation for radiofrequency or cryoablation
Joint injections to relieve hip, knee, shoulder, wrist, elbow, hand, foot and ankle pain
Platelet-rich plasma therapy
Prosthetics and orthotics
Spinal cord stimulation
Therapeutic and diagnostic lumbar spine injections
Ultrasound-guided injections
X-ray-guided lumbar epidural steroid injections to relieve lower back and leg pain
X-ray-guided cervical epidural steroid injections to relieve neck, shoulder and arm pain
X-ray-guided facet injections for back and neck pain