A Personalized and Dynamic Amputation Treatment and Rehabilitation Plan

As each amputation patient carries with them a range of unpredictable factors – which limb or limbs have been amputated, age, fitness levels, reason for amputation, mental health and far more – it is essential that the Mount Sinai Department of Rehabilitation Medicine offer a treatment and rehabilitation plan that is as personalized, flexible and dynamic as it is cutting-edge, empathetic and motivating. When a patient is young and is standing on the threshold of a brilliant life ahead, we offer a treatment plan that gives them the physical and emotional tools to return to the path that was interrupted by amputation. When the patient is an avid sports person, our goal is to make sure that through physical and occupational therapy – along with the help of one of our leading prosthetists – they can get back on the field, surf board or even resume extreme hobbies like jumping out of an airplane as soon as possible. For patients who have suffered a traumatic amputation, we lovingly nurturer them back to physical health, offer robust and caring emotional and group therapy and guide them to a place of peace and acceptance where they can begin to see the light at the end of their harrowing tunnel. 

These examples barely scratch the surface of the spectrum of patients we look after at the Mount Sinai Department of Rehabilitation Medicine – and yet it shows that a ‘one-size-fits–all’ plan will not cut it. Our patients require a treatment and rehabilitation plan that takes into consideration their physical condition and life outside of a rehab setting, their age, life goals and temperament, with a robust emphasis on providing the emotional support so that they can pursue a post-amputation life that is comfortable and fulfilling. 

Each personalized and dynamic amputation and treatment rehabilitation plan is focused on the following features:

• Access to and care from Mount Sinai’s world-leading team of physicians who will look after you and any potentially complex medical needs from the moment of amputation until you fully recover.
• Compassionate and evidence-based care from our rehabilitation nurses who will help patients with goal-setting and managing pain and discomfort.
• Therapy from our physical and occupational therapists who will begin working with patients from the moment they wake up from general anesthesia until they are pursuing life again on their own terms, as well as increasing independence and teaching self-care and Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
• Access to and care from psychologists who will help patients develop coping skills to emotionally handle the stresses that may come with experiencing amputation as well as community re-integration.
• Access to and care from dietitians who will work to make sure patients’ diets are nutritious, promote healing and mitigate the potential for diabetes and other conditions.
• Being put in the hands of an expert prosthetists who will make sure the patient has the full range of prosthetics they require to live life to the fullest.
• Access to our Limb Loss Support Group, our monthly peer support for patients following an amputation. It is led by a psychologist and discusses topics like body image, social acceptance and techniques for maintaining a positive attitude. 

At the Mount Sinai Department of Rehabilitation Medicine the full weight of our expertise and experience in treating and rehabilitating amputee patients is passed through a bespoke prism to ensure that it is personalized, dynamic and that it seamlessly fits into the patients needs and sensibilities so they can return to their old selves again.

If you are – or somebody you know is – scheduled to have an amputation and you would like to discuss the ways in which the Mount Sinai Department of Rehabilitation Medicine can offer a personalized and dynamic post-amputation treatment and rehabilitation program, please get in touch with us at (212) 241-6321.