2050 Tilden Avenue, New Hartford, NY 13413 | Phone 315 797-3114 | Toll-Free 1 888 578-8807
2050 Tilden Avenue, New Hartford, NY 13413 | Phone 315 797-3114 | Toll-Free 1 888 578-8807
The Sitrin Medical Rehabilitation Center is now offering VitalStim Swallowing Therapy for the community. VitalStim Therapy is a specialized form of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) designed to treat many swallowing disorders through muscle retraining. Sitrin Speech-Language Pathologist, Kristyn Hammond, MS, CCC-SLP has been certified to provide this new treatment.
It is estimated that 15 million Americans are affected by swallowing disorders, with up to one million new patients diagnosed annually. The disorder reportedly affects 50-75% of stroke patients - up to 90% of those patients with neurological disease and up to 60-70% of those patients who undergo radiation therapy for head and neck cancer. VitalStim Therapy is designed to assist these individuals.
Sitrin’s newly installed VitalStim program administers a specially calibrated current that goes directly to the affected muscles. This FDA-approved therapy stimulates the inactive and/or atrophied muscles of the neck and re-trains them through the delivery of small electrical currents to obtain optimum swallowing function.
Patients interested in receiving VitalStim Therapy at Sitrin must first obtain a referral from their doctor, and have an up-to-date videofluoscopy.
This is a new program at Sitrin and appointments are readily available! For more information about VitalStim, please call 797-8000.
