What is rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is a complex procedure which incorporates both sensory and motor components of the human nervous system to re-teach a pattern of movements that is once lost followed by any cerebrovascular accident or any traumatic Spinal Cord injury.
Why Rehabilitation is needed?
Rehabilitation is needed for the following reasons:
- Body motion is lost
- Muscle Strength and endurance are lost or minimized
- No more Functional independence
- De-conditioning effects
Phases of Rehabilitation:
Rehabilitation takes place in 5 phases as mentioned below.
- Phase I:
Main focus is on pain management and control of swelling and existing oedema.
- Phase II:
Start Range of motion exercises and produce sufficient range to allow normal daily life activities
- Phase III:
Phase III includes special treatment focused on strength and endurance training to maximize functional status.
- Phase IV:
In this phase, the main focus is on teaching a specific movement to fine-tune every component of this motion.
- Phase V:
This phase focus on compensatory rehabilitation to enable the patient undergoing rehabilitation to resume his previously performed activities.
Components of Rehabilitation:
- Pain management
- Ergonomic correction
- Initiation of movement pattern
- Reflex generation
- ROM exercises
- Strength and Endurance
- Compensatory training
- Functional Training
Importance of Rehabilitation:
- Natural and free of any harm
- Adjustable according to the patient's situation
- Regaining optimal functional status
- Regaining confidence
- Functional independence
- Social interaction is maintained
- Disability free life is achieved
- Sustainable health outcomes
- Neuromuscular conditioning
- Psychological wellbeing
Rehabilitation Team:
Rehabilitation being a complex process involves teamwork by several professionals.- Physician
- Physio Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Nurse
- Orthotist
- Nutritionist
- Pharmacist
Conclusion:
Rehabilitation is a multi-stage procedure carried to restore the lost functional status and maintain the optimal level of physical activity through collaborative efforts of different health care professionals.
