After dealing with the immediate surgical implications of your condition, it is essential to consider your wider health, fitness and lifestyle needs. Neglecting this can have a negative impact on recovery and potentially lead to setbacks. Fortunately, technological advancements, in the last few years, have made this much easier to achieve.
Increasing fitness: Active therapy with functional electrical stimulation
Active therapy allows muscles to do the work they are meant to and reverses muscle atrophy. This is superior to passive therapy, where muscles don’t do any of the work.
Functional Electric Stimulation (FES) is a well-established active therapy rehabilitation technique that uses pulses of electrical current to stimulate peripheral nerves, generating muscle contractions and patterned muscle activity.
FES cycling solutions are excellent at:
- Relaxing muscle spasms
- Preventing or reducing muscle disuse atrophy
- Increasing local blood circulation
- Maintaining or increasing your range of motion
By focussing on weak and paralysed muscles in the arms, legs and trunk, it enables your muscles to work and perform activities. Allowing them to become more conditioned and help you to reach their rehabilitation goals.
Robotic eating devices can help improve lifestyle
Eating is not just a functional activity, it is also a social interaction that should be enjoyable. Unfortunately, for many who, post-injury, have difficulty in feeding themselves, dignity and independence can be quickly lost.
Now, new technology that blends cutting-edge robotics, elegant design, intuitive easy-to-use controls and personality can overcome this. Allowing individuals to take control of their meal times, it restores the enjoyment of eating with others while increasing both confidence and self-esteem. Additionally, the carer costs it can save will help pay for the device very quickly.
Enhancing mobility
A wheelchair is no longer just a functional way of getting around. Modern wheelchairs are all about improving your quality of life in a way that reflects your originality and desire for independence.
This evolving requirement has led to an increase in the number of hand-crafted wheelchair designs built with high quality and lightweight materials like titanium and carbon fibre. Helping to turn the wheelchair from a functional aid, into an expression of your personality which will help improve everyday quality of life.
Similarly, you no longer need to be limited by having to propel yourself. Lightweight handbikes, with click-and-go technology, instantly turn a manual wheelchair into a 3-wheel motorised tricycle, with speeds of up to 30km/h and a range of up to 28km. If you want to get a little more active, manual and hybrid hand cycles allow you to access the same click-and-go technology but get exercise as well as going further, faster and with a lot more fun!
Technology is now evolving at such a rapid rate that new solutions that can support your health, fitness and lifestyle are being announced regularly. This can only be good news as their impact allows for you to be healthier, fitter, more independent and will ultimately enhance your long-term recovery and quality of life.
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