Recovering from injuries and/or coping with chronic illnesses are undeniably difficult feats to accomplish. Trying to do it alone makes it even harder, really, considering all the roadblocks that we might end up experiencing along the way. In those sorts of circumstances, it may be a good idea to start looking into physiotherapy.
If you’re not sure what that is or how it works, don’t worry. Today, we’ll be going over that in detail, although resources like this one can help you to get a head start, there. Perhaps the most important thing when it comes to physical therapy and occupational therapy is that it exists not only to help our bodies, but also our minds.
What is Neurological Rehab?
When most of us see the world “rehab,” it evokes thoughts of addiction recovery. That’s not an incorrect assumption, necessarily, but in this context, it is a bit different. Neurological rehab involves doctors and other physicians helping people who have diseases or injuries that have impacted their nervous system in some way.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples of that. Strokes are one of the more common ones, although they will rarely occur to children. It’s not an impossibility, though, and stroke recovery is often a long and arduous road. Depending on the severity, some patients will never return to their precious one hundred percent.
As far as what abilities rehab entails, though, it often looks different depending on what is being treated. After all, patients with something such as cerebral palsy will likely require different care than a patient experiencing the aftermath of a stroke, head injury, or even long COVID. During the process, it’s easy to end up feeling discouraged, but the best thing to do is just keep trying.
What Might be Involved?
In terms of what you can expect out of a program like this, as was mentioned above, it will really depend on what is being treated. However, there are some general treatment plans that you can potentially expect out of a physiological or occupational therapy regimen.
Typically, some sort of routine will be put in place for patients, since routine can be quite healthy for us. It helps rebuilding neurological pathways that may have been dampened by an injury or that haven’t quite formed entirely at all. Additionally, for patients with autism, routine can be a key part in ensuring that they stick to the program.
Now, you can read a bit more about the details of that here, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/neurological-rehabilitation, if you’re curious about what I mean by “routines.” The thing is, it’s not always the easiest task to truly stick to a routine that has been created for us. That’s part of why treatments emphasize it so heavily.
Besides that, though, what might you experience in a therapy program like this? One of the primary goals might be to improve overall movement ability, since that can be difficult when our nervous systems are impacted by one thing or another. The goal is to help patients regain control over their lives in whatever ways possible, no matter how small it is.
Think about it – something like not being able to make it to the restroom in time might not seem like the biggest deal at first, but over time, it can have profound impacts on a person’s mental health. That sort of experience is draining and upsetting to say the least. Neurological rehabilitation programs can help with that, though.
If you’re feeling hesitant about getting physiotherapy or occupational therapy for yourself or a loved one, that’s okay – it’s understandable to be apprehensive. While these programs aren’t exactly “new,” perse, they have improved a lot over the past several decades. In the past, some were saying that it’s not really effective, and that’s why so many folks are reluctant to look into them now.
Times have changed, though, that much is clear. Now, there are many reputable and excellent centers where you or a loved one can be treated for all sorts of illnesses or injuries that impact the nervous system. There aren’t “cures” to most of these issues, but these programs provide tools to help their patients thrive instead of just survive.
