Our Experts

Your Care and Treatment at Mount Sinai South Nassau - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Our on-site physiatrist, a physician with specialized training and board certification in rehabilitation medicine, oversees each patient’s treatment plan and serves as a liaison between your team here and your referring physician. He also performs tests of nerves and muscles on-site, including electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction tests, as well as other treatments such as trigger point therapy and injections.

Mount Sinai South Nassau - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team also includes:

• Physical therapists, who help you improve range of motion, strength, function, balance and gait (walking), as well as education
  
• Occupational therapists, who focus on improving your ability to do activities at both work and home, to help you maintain or regain independence
  
• Speech therapists, for a wide range of speech and swallowing disorders in children and adults
  
• Sports medicine specialists, who focus on recovery from and prevention of various sports injuries and sports-related procedures

We work with you to focus on realistic goals and create a treatment plan so you can reach the highest level of function possible. And we coordinate with other specialists you might see, as well as your primary care provider.

Some of the Conditions We Treat

Physicians, therapists and staff at Mount Sinai South Nassau - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation treat over 16,000 patients a year with a range of conditions related to the nerves, bones and muscles. These include:

• Amputee and prosthetic training, including our Amputee Walking School
  
• Ankle sprains
  
• Balance and other vestibular (ear-related) problems, including vertigo and dizziness
  
• Complete decongestive treatment for patients with lymphedema, which can occur from cancer related treatments and/or surgeries, vascular insufficiencies, infection or trauma
• Joint replacement rehabilitation
  
• Multiple sclerosis
  
• Neck and back injuries, including sciatica
  
• Neck, low back pain and joint pain
  
• Nerve entrapment, including carpel tunnel syndrome
  
• Neurological disorders, including neuropathy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease
• Post-concussion follow-up with a concussion management professional
  
• Speech, swallowing and language disorders
  
• Sports injuries
  
• Stroke
  
• Therapy after surgery or other treatments, including joint replacements, ACL treatment, rotator cuff repairs, arthroscopic surgeries and spine surgeries 
  
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Our Experts

Ricardo Cruz, MD, Director, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Ricardo Cruz, MD is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as brain injury medicine. He is fellowship trained in neurologic rehabilitation at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Aside from general physiatry, his other interests include stroke, concussion, and traumatic brain injury. At Mount Sinai South Nassau, Dr. Cruz heads the inpatient rehabilitation department as well as outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation therapy in Oceanside, where he sees patients with sports injuries, neuromusculoskeletal disorders, performs EMG and nerve conduction tests as well as trigger point and joint injections. Dr. Cruz has authored publications including the Oxford American Handbook of Rehabilitation Stroke and TBI Rehabilitation (Oxford Press, 2010) and Clinical Neurology of Aging: Neurologic Rehabilitation of the Elderly (Oxford Press, 2011). Dr. Cruz is fluent in Filipino and English, and can speak basic Spanish. 



Lauren Stimler-Levy, MD, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Lauren Stimler-Levy, MD is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation with extensive experience in inpatient rehabilitation, pain management, wound care, and musculoskeletal medicine. She completed her residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Nassau County Medical Center after more than three years of general surgery residency training, providing her with a strong foundation in surgical and rehabilitative care. Dr. Stimler-Levy received her medical degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook Medical School.

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Our facility and treatments