Neurological conditions and injuries

Our brains, spinal cords and nerves are the most amazing information processing and imparting ‘highway’. They help us get up in the morning, eat our breakfasts, brush our teeth, get washed and dressed and go to school, work, or take the dog out. All the messages rushing around keep our muscles ready for action (to resist being blown over by the wind or pulled over by the dog) and able to reach for our drinks without knocking them over, dropping them or missing our mouths. We can roll over in bed to get more comfortable, bend over to do up our shoes and exercise. All these things we take for granted until this information highway is damaged.

Damage can result in interruption of all the normal things we do, from being able to carry on with our exercise class to getting out of bed. It can mean we cannot tell if something is hot, cold, or too hard to rest our bodies against. It can curl up some joints (spasticity and/or contractures) or render some parts floppy so, for example, we trip over our own foot. It can cause embarrassment, say as you knock your drink over in a restaurant, frustration, and isolation, as you become unable to keep up with the rapid pace of everyone else.

Neurological physiotherapy looks at the person as a whole, working with muscle weakness, changes in sensation, and loss of awareness of where the body is in space. The aim is to improve quality of life for the individual and restore control to that person, for example helping them return to walking, gardening, or being able to move in bed independently. As each person is affected differently, the treatment focuses on what is most important to the client in terms of what they wish to achieve with therapy.

Some of the benefits of Neurological Physiotherapy are:

• Reduction/resolution of tripping
• Ability to go out and socialise again
• Continuing in your present line of work
• Return to your exercise class or running your own home, including looking after children and pets
• Return of confidence to go out on your own again
• Return of independence so you do not have to rely on as much, or any, care, or specialist equipment to move
• A linking in with a broader support network so you do not feel alone

It can incorporate: –

• Structural bodywork and Vestibular Rehabilitation (please see under specialist skills)
• Exercise to build up strength, co-ordination, and stamina
• Work on methods of moving, for example bed to chair
• Walking re-education
• Work on contracture and spasticity management
• Stretching program with a qualified therapist or rehabilitation technician
• Use of appropriate orthoses and mobility aids
• Referrals to specialist centres
• Joint working with other healthcare professionals (for example Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists or Stroke Support Workers)
• Signposting to supportive organisations