Husband and wife team Dr. Sebastian Klisiewicz, D.O., and Dr. Eunika Klisiewicz, A.P., D.O.M., opened Integrative Rehab Medicine in Estero in 2019. But they had dreamed about starting an integrative physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic for long before that. 

“We thought about this clinic and approach years ago, when my wife was in traditional Chinese medicine school and I was doing my residency,” says Dr. Klisiewicz, who attended the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and did his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. 

Following a stint as an assistant professor for Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, he and his family moved to Southwest Florida in 2014 so he could take a position at Lee Health Spine Center. He enjoyed the work, but after five years “it was time to create our dream clinic,” he says. 

As its name suggests, the clinic takes an integrated, whole-person approach to alleviating patients’ pain and treating their injuries. “Many times patients have seen doctors who have told them, ‘There is nothing else I can offer you,’” says Dr. Klisiewicz. “They might have chronic back, knee, or shoulder pain and want an alternative to surgery, pain medication, or steroid injections. And that is what we provide them.” 

As a physician board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation, Dr. Klisiewicz diagnoses conditions such as neuropathies and musculoskeletal injuries and develops nonsurgical treatment plans for the spine, shoulders, hips, knees, and other joints. Those plans use a multidisciplinary approach that can include regenerative medicine treatments like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections and stem cell therapy—which focus on regrowing, replacing, or repairing damaged cells—along with options such as physical therapy, Pilates, acupuncture, nutritional guidance, and laser therapies. 

“[Dr. Klisiewicz] tends to stay on top of really up-to-date treatment options,” says Dr. Jonathan Brisson, D.O., with Millennium Physician Group in Fort Myers, who has been referring patients to Dr. Klisiewicz since they worked together at Lee Health. “I think he has a lot of different options that are very tailored to the specific patient and their specific problems.” 

Regenerative medicine aims to help the body heal injuries and eliminate pain naturally, without the need for surgery or medications. PRP injections consist of a solution of concentrated platelets made from a patient’s own blood that is injected into an injury site. The treatment option can be used to lessen pain, stimulate healing, and improve tissue function for conditions such as injured tendons and ligaments, arthritic joints, and dysfunctional nerves. Stem cell therapy is another nonsurgical treatment option for those kinds of conditions, which uses the patient’s own bone marrow stem cells. 

“Regenerative medicine helps patients heal from their injuries,” says Dr. Klisiewicz. “But it really makes a difference who does your regenerative treatments; you need to do it with a physician who is well trained.” 

He’s been practicing regenerative medicine for more than a decade. “It is something that I’m very passionate about because I see its potential,” he says. “It’s something that I think is so underrecognized but is such a powerful option for people who don’t want to have surgery or be taking pain medications but want an option to help them heal.” 

When working with patients, Dr. Klisiewicz knows the importance of treating more than just the swollen joint or small area of the body that’s in pain. “When I treat a joint or the spine, I’m not just treating one area,” he says. “It’s always very important to treat the whole structure, all the ligaments and muscles and tendons supporting that knee or back… The whole body and all the structures around it need to be treated for good regeneration.” 

He always relies on imaging when doing injections and only uses plasma and bone marrow stem cells that come from the patient’s own body. “That is much better accepted by the body and much more likely to heal the body compared to buying it from some other producer,” he says. 

The clinic has seen notably good results using these methods to treat patients with nerve injuries or neuropathies. “We see these patients be able to regenerate their nerves,” says Dr. Klisiewicz. “We help these patients improve and heal and move on.” 

But regenerative medicine takes some effort on the part of the patient as well. “I always say to patients that the regenerative medicine does about 50 percent of the work, and the other 50 percent comes from you,” says Dr. Klisiewicz. “If people don’t do the prescribed work [which could include physical therapy and a nutrition plan], they will not heal as well.” 

The team at Integrative Rehab Medicine includes physicians, physician assistant, an acupuncturist, and multiple physical therapists. Cutting-edge regenerative medicine treatments are complemented with personalized physical therapy plans that might include manual therapy, muscle strengthening, balance training, and/or bracing protocols. Low-level laser and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy and nutritional support might also be used to expedite the healing process. 

Each treatment plan is tailored specifically to the individual patient to find the best approach to allow that patient to heal and improve function. “We always stress how important function is,” says Dr. Klisiewicz. “A patient may say, ‘I want to get back to my tennis or pickleball or golf.’ Our goal is to not only treat their pain but also have them get back to their regular activities.” 

Susan Lacroix has been living with and managing chronic pain for 30 years. In 2019, she suffered a flare-up that lasted three months. A pain management doctor in Bonita Springs prescribed medication to relieve the ongoing pain and referred her to Integrative Rehab Medicine for physical therapy and other alternative treatments. 

That proved “immensely helpful in keeping me stretched and strong,” says Lacroix. When the clinic began offering acupuncture, that helped to relieve her back pain. And when nerve and arthritis pain affected her hands and feet and her ability to enjoy playing tennis, Dr. Klisiewicz treated those areas with PRP injections, “giving me relief and giving me back the joy,” says Lacroix.  

She plans to get additional PRP treatments on her spine for her chronic back pain and sciatica and potentially in her right knee as well. “It excites me to know I can avoid drugs and surgeries,” she says. “I feel like I’ve found a loving family at Integrative Rehab Medicine. Everyone who works there is there because they love helping their patients. Their dedication and caring support set them apart. It’s an incredible and unimaginable gift to be pain-free. Integrative Rehab Medicine is about treating the whole person and relieving their pain.” 

Dr. Brisson’s patients have also benefited from visits to Integrative Rehab Medicine. “I have had patients who haven’t been able to get results elsewhere who have gotten results with Dr. Klisiewicz, and I think it’s part of the approach that he takes,” he says. “I would definitely recommend him and his team to any patient who maybe hasn’t gotten answers elsewhere.”  

The clinic has been getting involved in the community through various efforts and collaborates frequently with local primary care physicians and surgeons. Estero has proven to be a good location, as it allows Integrative Rehab Medicine to treat patients from all over Southwest Florida. Its team and services continue to grow, and the clinic will be expanding next year to a larger location just across the street from its current site. “We’re growing and so getting busier because there’s such a need for what we do here,” says Dr. Klisiewicz. 

Taking a team approach and using the best combination of treatment options for each patient creates treatment plans where everything works together to help patients heal, decrease their pain, and improve their function. Dr. Klisiewicz says sometimes people wrongly assume they’re just a physical therapy clinic, but he wants them to know that Integrative Rehab Medicine offers cutting-edge medicine and much more. 

“Rehabilitative medicine is a medical specialty,” he says. “We help patients get off chronic pain medications. They don’t need them anymore and they regain their quality of life. We provide them with an alternative to surgery. We give them hope.” 

Beth Luberecki is a Nokomis, Florida–based freelance writer who’s a frequent contributor to TOTI Media. Learn more about her at bethluberecki.com. 

IF YOU GO 

Integrative Rehab Medicine 

9250 Corkscrew Road, Suite 15, Estero 

239-687-3199; iRehabMed.com 

Accepts Medicare & most private insurance plans