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| Physical therapists guide
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SPINAL CORD INJURIES
Spinal cord diseases, cerebral palsy, severed spinal cord
Spinal cord is an important part of the body, since it supports our
back If any damage happens to this it affects many other parts of the
body like the heart ,brain etc; Spinal cord being a vital bone in our
body any damage to it may cause brain damage and it sometimes leads to
permanent disability. So it has to be dealt by experienced doctors, who
do 60% of the job and the rest of the job is done by expert
physiotherapists who give encouragement to the patients and
help them to recover from surgery.
Spinal cord injuries may be caused due to major accidents .At that time
the patient has to be taken immediately to the hospital and treated by
best doctors, who have specialized in spinal cord surgery. If the upper
part of the spine is affected this may lead to breathlessness which has
to be later treated by giving breathing exercises to the patients. If
the lower part of the spinal cord is affected then they will not have
any problem regarding respiration or arm movement .and will have quick
recovery with physiotherapy.
The doctors fix the broken rib bones with a plate attached to the bones
with a screw .The patient will then be asked to take rest for a few weeks.
The physiotherapist
starts his work soon after the operation. He first checks whether he is
able to breathe properly and then teaches him chest expansion exercises.
If the arm movement is affected physiotherapist makes him to do arm movement
exercises. The affected part of the arm will be moved slowly until the
movement improves and comes back to normal.
Some of them get paralyzed due to spinal injury. In such cases the physiotherapist
makes the patient do knee joint and ankle joint movement. They will make
them increase their phase of movement slowly according to their recovery
rate. If the exercise is overdone the patient will end up in severe pain
and not able to do exercises for a few days. So the physiotherapist is
the best judge to decide the patient’s recovery and fix the time of exercises.
Once they are able to move their legs freely the patient will be taken
in a wheel chair from one place to another so that he will get over from
the mental depression which the sick patients tend to get. Once they are
mobile moving in a wheel chair they can be taken outside for an hour or
so to a nearby park so that they feel enlightened seeing people around
and fresh air is good for patients.
Recovery from such a major operation as spinal cord operation depends
mostly on the encouragement and exercises given by physiotherapist
and of course the family members.
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