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Have you suffered a Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury? Perhaps you have difficulties with symptoms related to Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s Disease? For these any many other neurological conditions, neuro physio can be highly beneficial in assisting to recover movement, improve sensation, alter the disease course and regain your lost independence. Our neuro physios are experts in the rehabilitation of neurological disorders.
Parkinson’s Disease is caused by reduced production of chemical messengers in the brain. This can result in three main movement symptoms:
Our neuro physiotherapists commonly see people with Parkinson’s Disease who have noticed difficulty with specific movements, increased imbalance, problems with walking, reduced confidence and increased dependence on family and carers.
Neuro physiotherapy for Parkinson’s Disease has evolved considerably during the past ten years and now goes beyond exercise and movement strategy training for symptom management.
Exercise and neurological rehabilitation for Parkinson’s Disease is now recognised to have neuroprotective benefits and can change the progression of the disease. Although neuro physio and exercise does not affect the amount of neurotransmitter in the brain, it is thought to have an impact on the efficiency that it is used.
Our neuro physios will prescribe a Parkinson’s Disease Rehabilitation Plan specific to your condition that may include:
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common causes of disability amongst young adults. Neuro Physiotherapy is often beneficial to help with resuming day to day tasks or after a relapse.
MS affects your brain and spinal cord, resulting in a disruption of messages being passed along the nerve. Because your nerves connect different parts of your body, the symptoms can vary enormously but include both seen and unseen difficulties:
Neurological Physiotherapy may include exercises, stretching, balance retraining, pain management, pacing for fatigue and problem solving to resume your usual activities.
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"Successful neurological rehabilitation means progressing beyond the treatment clinic and being able to return to the activities that matter most to YOU."
Our Neuro Physiotherapy clinic in Stevenage is wheelchair accessible, well-equipped, and in an easily accessible location. Our approach to neurological rehabilitation is eclectic, but is based on the latest evidence in neuro recovery and utilises technology where needed. Neurological Physiotherapy consultations are by appointment only but can often be made within a few days.
Neurological rehabilitation is often best completed in the person’s own environment to enable practice of the desired skill in the situation in which it will be used. We can provide community neuro physio sessions in Herts, Beds, Essex, North London and East London. Our expert neuro physiotherapists often travel beyond this so please do get in touch to see if we have a physio in your area.
Our Neuro Physios pride themselves on taking you through the full rehabilitation journey, no matter what your end goal is. This often means that neurological rehabilitation sessions are completed in the community. We’ve helped people with neurological problems return to sport, access gyms, to swim and attend major events or holidays. Neuro Physiotherapy is about more than a movement.
There is increasing evidence that the ‘traditional’ model of neuro rehab is often not the best approach. It is now clear that a more active approach to neurological physiotherapy is essential to maximise the recovery of the nervous system. New treatments have emerged and because of this our neuro physio practice has evolved too. Below are some of the most promising develops in neuro rehabilitation that we have integrated into our treatment programmes.
Practice and repetition are always important as part of a neurological physiotherapy programme. In some circumstances it is critical that the exercises or tasks are practised much more frequently. Where this is difficult to do independently we may recommend much more intensive neuro physiotherapy regimes, even up to 4 hours each day with additional home neuro rehab exercises. These programmes typically last between 2 days and three weeks depending on the goals of the rehabilitation programme.
At Physio4You our expert neuro physiotherapists offer three main intensive programmes in addition to standard physiotherapy with a greater frequency:
Each of these neuro rehab programmes is designed to improve function. No matter what your rehabilitation goals our neuro physios will tailor the exercises, activities and home practice to meet your needs. We know that one size doesn’t fit all and that your priorities after a stroke, brain injury, spinal injury or needs due to Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s Disease will be different from the next person that we see. Because of this our intensive programmes are designed for you, not just your condition.
You can find more details about these intensive regimes by following the links.
Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) involves applying a small electrical current through adhesive or cloth electrodes placed on the skin to activate the underlying muscles. FES is frequently used in rehabilitation by neurological physiotherapists following a stroke, acquired brain injury, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.
If you have weakness or paralysis due to an injury to your nervous system, functional electrical stimulation (FES) may help to:
FES can be used as an exercise device as part of your neuro physio rehabilitation or as an orthosis to wear daily to improve your walking or hand movement for grasping.
Mirror box therapy, or mirror therapy, is a rehabilitation technique used by neuro physios that aids functional recovery of movement via visual feedback which creates an illusion of the involved side moving. It is commonly used for people with movement or pain following a stroke or other neurological incident.
This illusory feedback is created when a person moves the intact body part in front of a mirror while watching its reflected image, which is visually superimposed on the hidden (unseen) involved body part. For example, during mirror box therapy for a hand, the person positions their hands on either side of a mirror, so that the injured hand is unseen behind the mirror. The person sees the reflected image of the healthy hand as their injured hand in the mirror and as a result perceives two normal hands.
It has been established that neural recovery in the brain can be stimulated using mirrored movements of the non-affected limb and it is thought that visual feedback helps recruit dormant motor pathways that replace the damaged pathways and encourage the return of movement
As the visual image of the impaired limb is perceived similarly to the person’s own moving limb, the mirror illusion might also prevent or reverse learned non-use which is a common problem after neurological injury which can result in low levels of function. Mirror neurons are considered as a probable underlying neural mechanism for mirror box therapy. Even simple injuries and short immobilisation periods can produce functional reorganisation of the central nervous system and result in temporary ‘‘forgetting’’ of the affected limb function and inefficient control of movements.
A recent large review of the evidence for mirror box therapy concluded that:
“At the end of treatment, mirror therapy moderately improved movement of the affected upper and lower limb and the ability to carry out daily activities for people within and also beyond six months after the stroke. Mirror therapy reduced pain after stroke, but mainly in people with a complex regional pain syndrome. We found no clear effect for visuospatial neglect. The beneficial effects on movement were maintained for six months, but not in all study groups. No adverse effects were reported.”
Our expert neuro physiotherapists are experienced in assessing for and prescribing mirror box therapy programmes to aid neurological recovery.
We are proud to be a Saebo Specialist clinic, offering assessments for Saebo products inclduing the SaeboFlex, SaeboGlove, SaeboStretch, SaeboReach, SaeboMAS and SaeboStep. Our neurological physiotherapy clinic in Stevenage (Herts) is also equipped woth Saebo products which can be used within your rehabilitation programme at no extra cost.
Saebo offers a range of products to assist in the neuro rehabilitation of mobility and upper limb movement problems commonly experienced following Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis and other disorders of the nervous system. The devices are aimed at allowing the repetitive practice known to be needed to create new pathways in the brain and enable recovery. This can sadly be lacking in more traditional Neurological Physiotherapy approaches but is essential to allow progress. Our Neuro Physiotherapists are experienced at integrating these devices into a comprehensive neuro rehab programme which can be completed both at the clinic or at home.
The importance of strength training and developing greater exercise capacity after neurological injury is unquestionable. Despite this our experience is that neuro rehab programmes are often under-dosed, with too few repetitions of too many exercises with too little resistance. Whether you have never stepped foot in a gym before or are a seasoned gym goer, our neuro physiotherapists are experienced in prescribing and facilitating gym based exercise programmes that are goal directed and based on the most up to date knowledge related to enhancing neurological recovery.
Hydrotherapy for neurological conditions can often enable people after a stroke, brain injury, spinal injury, Parkinson’s Disease or other disorder of the nervous system to move more freely, challenge their strength and develop exercise tolerance. We are pleased to be able to provide private hydrotherapy sessions with one of expert neuro physios on a 1:1 basis at a specialist hydro pool in Enfield.
Our neurological hydrotherapy sessions are goal focused and desinged to complement your land based neuro rehab programme. Perhaps you want to relearn swimming, develop your balance, improve your strength or move more freely? No problem, your neuro physiotherapist will design a programme to help meet your goals.
Find out more about hydrotherapy for neurological conditions.
Intensive, repetitive practice is vital to assist with recovery from a stroke, traumatic brain injury or spinal injury. Our intensive neuro physio programmes, developed in the United States and Australia, are evidence based and give lasting neurological recovery. Neurological physiotherapy needs to go beyond the recovery of movement, sensation and control, and crucially requires behavioural change so that the goal is achieved outside of the clinic.
We are thrilled to have now opened our clinics and resumed our home visit service. The safety of our team and clients remains of the utmost importance to us, so we have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure that the environment and our working practices are safe.
We have implemented new policies for all treatment areas and although it’s not quite business as usual, you can expect the same expert service.
