At a Glance

Spinal rehabilitation consists of exercises, strategies, and treatments designed to aid people recovering from injuries, conditions, or surgeries affecting the spine and spinal cord.
It focuses on improving how the spine moves, how the surrounding muscles support it, and how an individual engages their spine in their everyday life.

Overview

Spinal rehabilitation is a process that addresses the whole body through a range of exercises, strategies, and treatments to support recovery from spinal injuries, back or neck pain, spine surgery, or spine-related conditions like herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or spinal cord injury (SCI).

Rather than focusing solely on pain relief, spinal rehabilitation aims to improve how the spine moves, how the surrounding muscles support it, and to help your body use alternate neural pathways to bypass injured areas of the spinal cord. It’s a collaborative process between neuro-rehabilitation physicians, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. It can include strengthening exercises, mobility work, posture training, and education on body mechanics. The goal of these techniques is to restore strength, mobility, and independence while reducing stress on irritated structures and helping the nervous system calm down in response to these movements.

Overall, spinal rehabilitation rebuilds trust between the brain and the spine, teaching the body how to move with greater ease and less strain. Perhaps most importantly, spinal rehabilitation aims for long-term improvement, rather than quick fixes.

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Neuro-Rehabilitation Specialists

The Barrow Difference

At Barrow Neurological Institute, our Neuro-Rehabilitation Center is one of the leading clinics for spinal rehabilitation in the Southwest. U.S. News and World Report has consistently ranked our programs in its Best Hospitals for Rehabilitation list for several years running.

As a leader in spinal rehabilitation, we offer inpatient neuro-rehabilitation, outpatient neuro-rehabilitation, a Spinal Cord Injury Wellness Clinic, and a community reintegration program to help patients return to their day-to-day lives. Our goal is to help you reach a reliable level of function by addressing both traumatic causes of spinal injury, like car or motorcycle accidents or diving accidents, and non-traumatic causes of spine conditions, such as tumors, neurological diseases, hemorrhage, or inflammation.

What defines a spine injury or condition?

The spine isn’t just bones—it’s a column of joints, discs, nerves, ligaments, and muscles designed to move fluidly as they share the load of supporting the body while also protecting the spinal cord. When one or more of these parts is weakened, damaged, compressed, or unstable, that’s considered a spinal injury or condition.

Broadly speaking, spinal injuries fall into the following categories:

Spinal cord injury (SCI): An injury to the spinal cord itself. Spinal cord injuries are always a medical emergency because they can result in paralysis and loss of function at and below the level of the body where the damage occurs. This loss can be irreversible if the damage cuts completely through the spinal cord, or it can gradually heal with rest and neuro-rehabilitation if the damage is partial.
Structural or tissue-based changes: This refers to a physical aspect of the spine that has changed or been injured due to a fracture, herniated or degenerative disc, joint changes from aging, muscle or ligament strain around the spine, or a spinal cord injury affecting sensation and movement. Generally speaking, structural spine injuries or conditions are easier to identify on imaging studies, such as an MRI, because something visible has changed in the tissues themselves.
Functional or movement-based issues: Sometimes the spine will look normal on an MRI, but the way the spine is moving or is supported isn’t working optimally. This can happen due to an imbalance between strong and weak muscle groups, joints that move too little or too much, posture or movement habits that overload one area, or a nervous system that has become unusually sensitive to specific movements.

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Inpatient Spinal Rehabilitation

Inpatient neuro-rehabilitation offers intensive therapy for people with a spinal cord injury or a complex spine condition, led by a collaborative team that includes physical and occupational therapists, neuro-rehabilitation physicians, neuropsychologists, nurses, social workers, and discharge planners.

During inpatient spinal rehabilitation at Barrow, you can benefit from:

A case manager or social worker who acts as a liaison for patients
Therapists with years of spine rehabilitation experience
A treatment team that meets weekly to coordinate rehabilitation goals
Spinal cord injury education classes and use of our spinal cord injury library
Recreational therapy integration, including aquatic therapy and community reintegration programs
Access to our Spinal Cord Injury Wellness Clinic
The most advanced neuro-rehabilitation robotics and technology
A close relationship with medical equipment vendors for discharge planning

Therapy services are provided up to seven days a week, for an average of three hours per day, to allow each person to demonstrate progress toward their discharge goals.

You must meet specific criteria to qualify for neuro-rehabilitation at Barrow. This program does not currently serve individuals who are under the age of 15, medically unstable, ventilator dependent, or unresponsive.

Percent

Nearly 80 percent of our SCI inpatients were discharged to a home or community setting.

Percent Overall Satisfaction

Our inpatient SCI program had an overall satisfaction rate of almost 96%.

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Inpatient SCI Disclosures

Inpatient Neuro-Rehabilitation

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Outpatient Spinal Rehabilitation

Outpatient neuro-rehabilitation services at Barrow Neurological Institute offer comprehensive follow-up services, flexible therapy scheduling, and a coordinated team approach to your spine rehabilitation.

We promote long-term wellness through the medical management of your spinal injury or condition, follow-up care, education, and support. We also make it a priority to prevent secondary disabilities, as well as re-injuries.

Our Spinal Cord Wellness Clinic includes assessments for home modifications, recommendations for adaptive equipment, functional assessments, mobility training, home skills training, pain and spasticity management, resources for community living, and even wheelchair seating and positioning evaluations.

Our highly skilled spinal rehabilitation team is committed to helping you or your loved one return to life with a renewed sense of self-esteem and newfound independence. Overall, our goal is to restore movement, improve strength, reduce pain, and help you safely return to your everyday activities while preventing re-injury.

Average Number of Visits per Patient

Spinal cord injury patients average 20 visits in our outpatient program.

Percent Likely to Recommend

All patients surveyed said they would recommend our outpatient program.

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Outpatient SCI Disclosures

Outpatient Neuro-Rehabilitation

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Community Reintegration Program

Reintegration is crucial for maintaining independence in the community—this is why our Community Reintegration Program at Barrow Neurological Institute places neuro-rehabilitation patients with newly acquired skills in real-life settings. This can include visits to and experiences in restaurants, grocery stores, and sporting or entertainment events.

Our Community Reintegration Program includes training in wheelchair mobility skills, assertive communication skills training, and therapy to help you adjust to a new self-image. Members of our neuro-rehabilitation team also advise patients about their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Center for Transitional Neuro-Rehabilitation

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Common Questions

Am I a good candidate for spinal rehabilitation?

To determine whether you’re a good candidate for spinal rehabilitation, a variety of medical, cognitive, and functional factors will need to be taken into consideration.

Generally speaking, the criteria for spinal rehabilitation include:

Being medically stable: Your vital signs need to be steady, and you can’t have any life-threatening complications to start a neuro-rehabilitation program.
Receiving “safe for movement” approval: Your spine must be sufficiently stabilized—whether surgically or from bracing—so that neuro-rehabilitation can proceed without risk of further injury.
Displaying cognitive and behavioral readiness: You can attend, cooperate, and demonstrate basic awareness or learning capacity and ability to follow instructions.
Holding functional goals: Your goals for spinal rehabilitation should be clear and attainable—for example, reducing your pain level, improving mobility, and enhancing your ability to be independent—and align with the services provided. Some voluntary movement or trunk control often indicates a good prognosis for functional recovery.
Achieving a well-controlled pain level: Your pain must be well-managed to participate in spinal rehabilitation exercises and mobility training.
Showing readiness to be motivated and engaged: By being willing to learn, staying motivated, and having the potential capacity to participate in neuro-rehabilitation, you’re foreshadowing a great predictor of success.
Having necessary family or caregiver support: A supportive environment will improve your outcomes, especially in terms of emotional recovery and the ongoing therapies that will require at-home support.

By considering each of these guidelines, your healthcare team will determine whether you’ll benefit from spinal rehabilitation.

What kind of outcomes can I expect after spinal rehabilitation?

Spinal conditions are rarely isolated—it makes sense to think of them as a “group project” in which several parts of the body need to learn to cooperate again. That said, outcomes tend to be better when neuro-rehabilitation starts early, you consistently and actively participate, you have a strong support network, and a collaborative team manages your care.

Following spinal rehabilitation, any of the following outcomes may occur:

Improved mobility, function, and strength: Spinal rehabilitation restores or maximizes movement in your spine and limbs through targeted therapy, strengthening exercises, and flexibility training. For those with incomplete spinal cord injury, it can also help you adapt and use alternate neural pathways to send signals to parts of your body below the level of your injury.
Better posture and balance: Core and trunk stability training helps realign the mechanics of your spine, reducing the strain that causes pain or further injury.
Increased independence in everyday tasks: Regaining the ability to perform daily activities, like dressing, walking, or transferring without assistance, is a significant milestone on your path to independence.
Improved coordination and motor control: Neuromuscular re-education techniques help retrain your nervous system to coordinate movements more effectively and with more control.
Reduced pain and discomfort: Therapeutic exercises, manual therapy, and modalities like heat, electrical stimulation, or aquatic therapy have proven effective in alleviating chronic pain after an injury to the spine.
Decreased reliance on medication: You can also reduce or eliminate your need for long-term pain medications through improved physical function and pain management techniques.
Improved sleep and mood: Chronic spine pain can disrupt sleep, contributing to anxiety or depression. Conversely, spine rehabilitation can help boost healthier routines and your emotional well-being.
Better overall quality of life: Regaining independence after a spine injury or condition leads to vital social and emotional confidence, as well as occupational improvements.
Lower risk of re-injury or degeneration: Being properly educated on posture, ergonomics, and lifting techniques will help prevent future spine issues or re-injury.

Whether your spinal injury or condition is traumatic, degenerative, due to wear and tear, or postoperative, the goal of spinal rehabilitation is to restore function, reduce pain, and enhance your quality of life. For individuals with irreversible spinal cord damage, spinal rehabilitation will support learning adaptive strategies or assistive technologies and maximizing your remaining function.

What can I do to prevent a spinal injury or condition?

While not every spinal injury or condition is avoidable, much of the risk is related to situations we can individually manage or protect against. These preventative strategies apply to both traumatic injuries, like car accidents, and chronic conditions, like degeneration or wear and tear.

Maintaining good posture: Poor posture increases spinal stress and can lead to chronic back or neck pain, so it’s essential to keep your head aligned with your spine and your shoulders as relaxed as possible.
Strengthening core muscles: Exercises that build abdominal and back strength, such as planks or bridges, help stabilize the spine and prevent strain or injury.
Lifting objects properly: Improper lifting is a leading cause of acute back injuries. When lifting heavy objects, be sure to bend at your knees—not your waist—and keep the object you’re lifting close to your body.
Using ergonomic furniture and setups: Adjust your chairs, desks, and screens to support natural spinal alignment, especially if you sit for long periods.
Taking movement breaks: Standing or walking every 30–60 minutes helps prevent stiffness, improves circulation, and reduces spinal compression caused by prolonged sitting.
Staying physically active: Regular, low-impact exercises, like walking, swimming, or cycling, help keep the spine flexible while supporting bone health.
Maintaining a healthy weight: Excess body weight puts pressure on the spine, which can contribute to disc degeneration and stress on your joints. Eating a diet rich in calcium, vitamin D, and protein, alongside physical activity, helps support strong bones.
Avoiding smoking: Smoking restricts the blood flow to spinal discs, accelerating disc degeneration in return, as well as slowing your healing from injuries.
Using seat belts: Car accidents are a leading cause of injuries to the spine, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all spine injuries. When you use your seatbelt properly, you can dramatically reduce that risk.
Wearing protective gear during sports: Helmets, back braces, and padding should be worn to protect against falls and high-impact collisions in contact or extreme sports, like football, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and boxing.
Preventing falls: Falls are also a leading cause of spinal fractures, so non-slip footwear, good lighting, and grab bars are essential for older adults.
Addressing back or neck pain early: To prevent a minor issue from becoming a chronic condition, early assessments and timely physical therapy are crucial.
Managing chronic health issues: Conditions like osteoporosis, arthritis, or diabetes can indirectly weaken the spine, so regular check-ups can serve as a safeguard. Monitoring bone density, especially in older adults, is also crucial for preventing vertebral fractures and spinal deformities.