Introduction to ERMI Devices For Treating Clinicians

The unique mechanical joint stretching devices offered by ERMI can help you avoid impending treatment failure in patients who have failure to respond to appropriate rehabilitation therapy after injury or surgery.

Consider using an ERMI device:

• If you have a patient who is not making expected gains in motion with conventional treatments and therapy, and remains interested and motivated to make gains despite range of motion challenges that might be severe.
• If you are looking for a better way to help the 5-10% of patients whose joint range of motion fails to improve with exercise, manual therapy, or other conservative treatments—the “outliers” among your patients who have developed severe arthrofibrosis.
• If you are trying to avoid corrective surgery for persistent severe joint stiffness, intracapsular adhesions, or adhesive capsulitis. Corrective surgery includes procedures such as manipulation under anesthesia, lysis of adhesions, or revision surgery—which can simply start the cycle all over again.

Orthopedic surgeons generally prescribe the home-based, prolonged, controlled and high-intensity stretching regimen delivered by an ERMI device at these times:

• As last ditch conservative therapy BEFORE resorting to corrective surgery,
• As early and aggressive rehabilitation SOON AFTER injury or surgery in known scar-formers
• As early and aggressive rehabilitation SOON AFTER the patient starts failing conventional therapy and treatments are ineffective, confirming your judgement that the patient has a stiff or frozen joint
• As early and aggressive rehabilitation AFTER corrective surgery in order to prevent a recurrence.

Physical therapists are often the ones who first notice abnormal response to therapy and failure to progress. They can suggest ERMI devices to a treating physician as a way of augmenting other therapy.