The main difference with the treatment in this clinic is that MedX strengthening equipment is used to isolate the spinal muscles by eliminating the ability of the surrounding muscle from compensating. This allows us to strengthen the muscles directly along the spine instead of strengthening the muscles that we use to compensate when the spinal muscles are weak.
Working out is definitely helpful, but there are very few exercise machines that effectively work the muscles the MedX machine do.
They were developed in the 1970s by a team that included Arthur Jones, who created Nautilus and found that the Nautilus machines did not effectively strengthen the spinal muscles so he and his team found a way to do that. MedX is what resulted. These machines are quite large, expensive, and require someone to get you into and out of them and for that reason gyms do not use them.
Restraint System of the L-Ext Machine:
Lumbar Extension:
Cervical Extension:
Cervical Rotation:
Torso Rotation:
Yes. Those are the muscles that have gotten weak over time and need to be re-strengthened. Your workouts in these machine will always be under direct supervision by our staff and because of the extra stabilization and how the weights can be adjusted, it is a safe way to build spinal strength even in areas that are in pain.
Any new exercise program will increase muscle soreness and you should expect that will happen with this too. Since we are working an area that is already painful, it is also not uncommon to get an increase in symptoms the first couple weeks until the muscles adapt to the increase in movement and demand. This will always be closely monitored by our staff. There is truth the adage of “no pain, no gain”, but it has to be the right kind of pain. Believe it or not, there are quite a few patients who say their symptoms are significantly reduced after working out their spine out because it increases the blood flow to the joints and muscles in the area.
We accept the following insurance – WC, Motor Vehicle, Medicare, MN Medicaid, Health Partners, Cigna, Ucare, Medica and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Therefore, patients with WC, Motor Vehicle, Medicare, MN Medicaid, Health Partners, Cigna, Ucare, Medica and Blue Cross Blue Shield will be billed through the respective insurance, and all others can either be billed as through insurance as Out of Network or as Direct Pay/Cash Only. Most insurance companies will partially reimburse direct pay physical therapy and the amount reimbursed will be determined by the Out of Network Benefits. A “Superbill” with the billing codes and therapy procedures performed will be provided for each patient so they can submit it to insurance.
Cash only physical therapy occurs when the clinic bills the patient directly rather than billing the patient’s insurance. Payment is then made at the time of the physical therapy visit by the patient. This takes out the “middle man” and allows the therapist and the patient to decide what will work best to treat the patient without the extra influence of the insurance company. It also allows the clinic to charge a flat fee for a visit with that charge often being significantly less than when having to bill through insurance using Out of Network benefits. For example, one 45 minute visit for an established patient when billing through insurance often totals $240, but the price for a 45-60 minute session is $112.
Yes, we accept Medicare.
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