The group of disorders known as cerebral palsy can affect an individual’s ability to move. It can particularly influence different parts of the body. This condition can also contribute to problems with posture and balance. Simply put, a sufferer may struggle with maintaining a healthy posture and face problems related to balance.
The term “cerebral” means having to do with your brain, so cerebral palsy, or CP, affects the part of the brain responsible for motor function. In contrast, “palsy” describes a weakness or paralysis of muscles in various body parts supporting voluntary movement.
Physical Therapy Equipment for Cerebral Palsy
Caused by damage to the developing brain or abnormal brain development, cerebral palsy can affect an individual’s degree of control over their muscles.
The symptoms of this condition may vary from patient to patient. However, someone with severe cerebral palsy may require special equipment to aid walking. On the other hand, a person with mild symptoms may walk a little differently but without special help. Nevertheless, all people with cerebral palsy experience posture, balance, and movement challenges.
The first step in treating cerebral palsy is often physical therapy. It can aid in developing motor skills and stop mobility issues from deteriorating over time. Children with cerebral palsy can gain more independence with physical therapy, which uses strength and flexibility exercises, heat treatment, massages, and specialized equipment.
Some of the most crucial components for physical treatment to lessen cerebral palsy symptoms are described below. These pieces of equipment can enhance your physical therapy clinic’s efficiency while improving the therapy results for your patients. Patients who have cerebral palsy can significantly benefit from therapy bands, VitaGlide, swiss ball, TENS unit, power scooters, pulleys, BRF cuffs, and treatment tables.
Therapy Bands
Therapy bands, also known as rehabilitation, exercise, and resistance bands, are the ideal equipment for little treatment clinics. They can be used to strengthen any skeletal muscle and are inexpensive, taking up almost no space.
In addition, you can adjust the therapeutic band’s length, angle, and pace to make it harder or easier based on the client’s needs. Since therapy bands are inexpensive and simple to use, your clients will likely buy one, allowing them to hasten their recovery at home.
VitaGlide
Clients can strengthen their bodies’ muscles and core with VitaGlide. This adaptive exercise apparatus focuses on strengthening the core – important to balance, as well as developing the muscles around the shoulder orbit.
This exercise equipment is a wise investment if you have patients that are dealing cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, or even stroke. This is due to the fact that the sitting machine provides wheelchair users with efficient conditioning exercises. It uses most of your muscle groups, enabling you to grow stronger, expend more energy, and improve your arm, core, and oblique muscles.
You can modify the frequency or intensity of the workouts based on the client’s health status and fitness objectives. Also, as VitaGlide allows for fluid shoulder mobility without putting additional strain on the client’s shoulders, you can incorporate various shoulder movements into their workout program.
Swiss Ball
A swiss ball can be used for a variety of exercises, including yoga, back pain management, finding neutral spine position, enhancing back and abdominal muscle strength, increasing lumbar mobility, improving stability and balance, developing overall strength and control of the core body muscles, and learning proper lifting technique. You can also use a yoga ball to add dynamic stability to your customers’ training routines, including pushups, planks, and other activities.
TENS Unit
TENS may be useful for treating spasticity in people with spastic cerebral palsy because it can lower neural excitability. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation uses a low-voltage electric current to treat pain.
The battery-operated gadgets use electrodes on the skin’s surface, transmitting electrical impulses. These electrodes are positioned at the pain-producing nerves, trigger points, or both. Not to mention, TENS therapy combined with therapeutic exercise may enhance hand and muscle function.
Power Scooters
Power scooters can be used instead of wheelchairs and are frequently less expensive. These wheelchairs are excellent for usage outside and for people who lack the upper body strength to propel a manual wheelchair. Power scooters are more maneuverable than power wheelchairs despite being more compact than the latter. They can be difficult to move due to weight and are less adaptable for daily tasks.
Pulley
The universal workout device that consists of a spider cage, a system of pulleys, straps, and weights for resistance includes pulley therapy. It is a novel technique that isolates the target muscle for training to strengthen weak muscles. Pulley treatment has various advantages, such as developing muscle flexibility, strength, and endurance without any associated activity and improving functional abilities and dynamic movement.
An overhead pulley is especially helpful for shoulder ailments, such as tendonitis, a frozen shoulder, or a damaged rotator cuff. The system comprises a metal pulley, a rope, and a strap that fastens to the top of a closed door.
Your client would sit down with their back to the door and utilize the pulley to increase their overhead shoulders’ strength and range of motion.
BFR Cuff
Physical therapists and other medical and/or exercise experts increasingly use exercise training with blood flow restriction (BFR), also known as Kaatsu training. In BFR training, an external cuff is used to entirely block venous return and partially block arterial blood flow to a part of the body.
This causes tissue hypoxia and sets off a series of reactions, including anaerobic metabolism, protein synthesis, and satellite cell proliferation. Hence, in individuals with musculoskeletal problems, low-intensity resistance training with BFR can be equally as effective in boosting muscle strength and mass as high-intensity training without BFR.
Treatment Table
You will get many opportunities as a physical therapist to use a treatment table. Treatment tables enable individuals with cerebral palsy to lie in different positions, depending on the nature of the treatment.
You will soon realize that investing in a treatment table for your physical therapy clinic is one of the best decisions you could have made. These medical platforms are quick to become the beating heart of any physical therapy practice.
Treatment tables offer a safe and efficient surface for cerebral palsy patients. A physical therapist can use treatment tables for examination, treatment, rehabilitation, and other procedures. Often, it can mean the difference between a mediocre and effective treatment experience. These equipment are optimized to meet each individual’s specific needs and requirements.
Wobble Boards
Your client can gain better proprioception or balance by using wobble boards. To add an additional level of difficulty to workouts like pushups, squats, and planks, it can be used to stand on either one or both feet at once. This low-cost equipment adds a dynamic balance component, challenging clients to use more muscles to maintain stability as the surface reacts to their movements.
Bottom Line
The equipment mentioned above is ideal for a small physical therapy clinic because it serves multiple purposes, takes up little to no room, and produces good results. Customers can also employ tools like VitaGlide, BFR cuffs, pulleys, and other items as part of their at-home recovery routine to achieve their fitness goals more quickly.
Sources
https://www.rehabmart.com/post/how-to-choose-the-best-treatment-table
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Physiotherapy_Treatment_Approaches_for_Individuals_with_Cerebral_Palsy
https://www.czrehab.com/product/treatment-of-cerebral-palsy/
https://www.pnfjournal.or.kr/journal/view.html?uid=510&vmd=Full&