BLOGs & FAQs

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You have patient choice no matter who your doctor is. Ask your medical provider for a referral for physical, occupational or speech therapy at East Texas Treatment Center in Kilgore. Our staff will verify your insurance benefits or assess a sponsorship application and schedule the initial evaluation with one of our therapy providers.

How do I become a patient?

How to treat & prevent "Tech Neck"?

Back to school means back to long periods of sitting that leads to postural changes that can be annoying at best and debilitating at worst. The good news is that it's very easy to prevent or overcome with a little stretching and a little exercise.

Before addressing the problem, let's go over what’s happening in the body that causes the symptoms. Sitting in a slumped position causes the chest and front of the neck to shorten while slacking the muscles of your upper back/trap. To fix this, we need to stretch the front muscles and strengthen the back muscles. Let' start with the stretches and follow up with the exercise.

Peck Stretch
Find a corner or a doorway and place your forearms against the wall as pictured above. Step one foot forward and lean forward leading with your chest. Perform daily; hold for 30 seconds. Repeat with arms higher then lower to maximize effectiveness.

Chin Tuck
Keeping the top of your head level, press your head back over your shoulders. Help guide with finger initially. Use a mirror if available to ensure form. Perform daily 10 times; hold 3 seconds each.

Prone “ T ” Exercise
While lying on your stomach, keep your chin tucked while lifting your chest followed by your arms in a “T” position. Perform 2 times weekly. 2 sets of 10 with a 3 second hold at the top of the motion.

Speech Therapy

Written by Kay S. Doss, CCC/SLP, our Speech Language Pathologist, 7/5/2022; published 7/27/2022.

How can speech Therapy services help me or someone I care about?

Speech Therapy services consist of a variety of skilled techniques and activities focused on improving communication, cognition, and swallowing skills, for pediatrics and adults.

What type of problems does Speech Therapy address?

If you or your loved one is having difficulty in any of the following areas they may benefit from a professional evaluation and intervention, by a licensed and certified Speech Language Pathologist, at the East Texas Treatment Center:
*Expressive Language difficulties
* Receptive Language difficulties
*Cognitive Deficits including memory loss
*Articulation deficits
*Phonological Processing deficits
*Oral motor dysfunction
*Apraxia
*Social Language deficits
*Fluency/Stuttering difficulties
*Voice disorders
*Feeding difficulties
*Swallowing difficulties

What happens next?

After receiving a referral for a Speech Pathology evaluation from your physician, you will be scheduled with a licensed and certified Speech Pathologist. An evaluation will be completed to determine what deficits are present and what type of treatment is warranted.

If therapy is indicated, a customized therapy plan will be developed to address functional communication and/or
swallowing safety. Patient and caregiver training, with extensive education, will be a vital part of the treatment process, to increase carry over of newly acquired skills.

Our goal:

It is our goal to improve the quality of life for each patient that honors us with the privilege of providing their care. Please let us know if you have questions regarding the referral process. We look forward to being a positive part of your journey to communication excellence and swallowing safely.