Spine & Neuro Rehab
Spinal cord injury (SCI) represents a neurological life-changing condition that causes devastating physical, social, psychological, and economic consequences in the injured patient.
SCI causes serious disability among patients. Every year, about 40 million people worldwide suffer from SCI.
WHO recognizes Spinal Cord Injury a major musculoskeletal condition that presents a serious disease burden specially on the developing countries.
Spine rehabilitation is the discipline of medicine that guides physical, psychological and social recovery of people who have become partially or totally disabled because of spinal disease or injury.
What is Spinal Injury?
Injury to the spinal column or spinal cord. Spinal cord injury causes paralysis, i.e., inability to move or feel. Spinal column injury may or may not be associated with spinal cord injury. However, in the field it is prudent to assume a spinal cord injury and immobilize the spine till an expert in hospital rules it out.
What are some Causes of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)?
- Fall from height: trees, construction sites.
- Road Traffic Accident (RTA); especially involving two wheelers.
- Sporting injuries: diving, kabaddi, gymnastics.
- Assault: Gun shot injury, stab.
- Non-traumatic causes: Tubercular spondylitis.
What conditions can benefit from rehab?
Injuries, infections, degenerative diseases, structural defects, tumours, and disorders in the circulatory system can impair the nervous system. Some of the conditions that may benefit from spine & neurological rehab may include:
- Trauma, such as brain and spinal cord injury
- Structural or neuromuscular disorders, such as Bell palsy, cervical spondylosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, brain or spinal cord tumors, peripheral neuropathy, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Vascular disorders, such as ischemic strokes (caused by blood clots), hemorrhagic strokes (caused by bleeding in the brain), subdural hematoma, and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs)
- Infections, such as meningitis, encephalitis, polio, and brain abscesses
- Functional disorders, such as headache, seizure disorder, dizziness, and neuralgia
- Degenerative disorders, such as Parkinson disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer disease, and Huntington chorea
The rehab programs
A rehab program is designed to meet your individual needs, depending on your specific problem or disease. Active involvement of you and your family is vital to the success of the program.
The goal of neurological rehab is to help you return to the highest level of function and independence possible, while improving your overall quality of life — physically, emotionally, and socially.
To help reach these goals, rehab programs may include:
- Help with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, handwriting, cooking, and basic housekeeping
- Speech therapy to help with speaking, reading, writing, or swallowing
- Stress, anxiety, and depression management
- Bladder and bowel retraining
- Activities to improve mobility (movement), muscle control, gait (walking), and balance
- Exercise programs to improve movement, prevent or decrease weakness caused by lack of use, manage spasticity and pain, and maintain range of motion
- Social and behavioural skills retraining
- Nutritional counselling
- Involvement in community support groups
- Activities to improve cognitive impairments, such as problems with concentration, attention, memory, and poor judgment
- Help with obtaining assistive devices that promote independence
- Education and counselling
- Safety and independence measures and home care needs
- Pain management
- Stress management and emotional support
- Nutritional counselling
- Vocational counselling
