Rehabilitation training for paraplegic patients

Rehabilitation training for paraplegic patients is very important. There are many methods of rehabilitation training. Acupuncture and massage are very effective. Its principle is mainly to use acupoints to relax muscles and promote blood circulation, thereby achieving the effect of rehabilitation. The joints of the body also need rehabilitation training every day so that the hands and feet maintain their functions. Let us now take a closer look at the rehabilitation training for paraplegic patients.

1. Nutritional therapy: formulate a reasonable diet and strengthen nutrition to meet the requirements of spinal cord injury (paraplegia) rehabilitation training.

2. Rehabilitation with Traditional Chinese Medicine: Using traditional medicine, acupuncture, massage, electroacupuncture, Chinese medicine ion introduction and other methods to promote the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury (paraplegia); in addition, Chinese medicine can also be widely used for oral and external use for the treatment of complications.

3. Clinical rehabilitation: Use nursing care and medication to prevent the occurrence of various complications. Some therapeutic clinical treatments can also be performed to alleviate symptoms and promote functional recovery in patients with spinal cord injury (paraplegia).

4. Rehabilitation engineering: some necessary braces can be customized to practice standing and walking. In addition, some special tools such as walkers can be equipped to compensate for the functional deficiencies of patients with spinal cord injury (paraplegia).

5. Psychotherapy: A psychotherapy plan is developed based on the changes in the different psychological stages (such as denial, anger, depression, etc.) of patients with spinal cord injury (paraplegia). Various methods can be used, such as individual, group, family, and behavioral methods.

6. Occupational therapy: mainly through training daily life movements (such as basic skills of clothing, food, housing and transportation), occupational labor movements, and craft labor (such as weaving, etc.), spinal cord injury (paraplegia) patients can adapt to the needs of personal life, family life, social life and labor after discharge.

7. Physical therapy: mainly to improve the joint activities of patients with spinal cord injury (paraplegia) and strengthen the remaining muscles, as well as balance and coordination movements and body position exchange and transfer movements (such as lying to sitting, turning over, moving from bed to wheelchair, from wheelchair to toilet, etc.), as well as physical therapy

1. Muscle and joint exercise method: Exercise the muscles below the paralysis plane 3-4 times a day, including kneading and rubbing massage techniques, to promote blood circulation and keep the muscles plump. At the same time, perform passive exercises on the joints below the paralysis plane to keep the joints flexible to prevent joint stiffness and affect further functional training.

2. Standing method with knees and hips: This method is suitable for paraplegic patients three months after spinal cord injury. The specific sequence is as follows:

(1) Ask the patient to sit on the bed with both hands on the edge of the bed and both feet on the ground;

(2) The partner sits opposite the patient, places his or her knees against the patient's knees, holds the patient's hips tightly with both hands, and asks the patient to hold his or her shoulders with both hands.

(3) The partner holds the patient's hips tightly with both hands and pulls them towards him/her. At the same time, the patient uses both hands to stand up. After completing the above movements, the patient can stand for 15-30 minutes each time, gradually increasing. If the patient feels dizzy, nauseous or other discomfort, he or she can sit down and rest for a while and then repeat the steps again so that the patient can gradually adapt. If the patient's feet are swollen and bruised after standing, the patient's feet can be raised when sleeping at night, and the swelling will subside.

Rehabilitation training methods for paraplegic patients:

1. For those with incomplete spinal cord injury, do not rush to make or wear braces for them. Instead, try every possible way to tap their remaining potential and improve their muscle strength level. If the muscle strength of key muscles reaches level III or above, the patient can be trained to walk without a brace, especially those whose muscle strength reaches level IV or V, who can generally get out of bed easily.

2. For those with complete spinal cord injury, it is necessary to determine whether they have the possibility of walking and then provide them with training. In principle, those with injuries below the 4th thoracic vertebra can walk indoors, and those with injuries below the 7th thoracic vertebra can recover to walk outdoors.

3. For paraplegic patients who meet the walking requirements, upright training and upper limb muscle strength training should be carried out first. You can first use a standing platform to do upright training, generally training 3 times a day, each time for several hours, and the training time is 3 to 4 weeks. Upper limb muscle strength can be trained with dumbbells and support devices. Each time you should train until the muscles become sore but it does not affect the next training.

4. Perform independent standing and balance training on a parallel bar that is 3 meters long, 0.8 meters wide, and 1 meter high. Nursing staff must assist patients in holding the parallel bars with both hands and avoid bending their knees when standing. The training should be conducted 2 to 3 times a day for a total of 3 hours.

5. According to the different injury planes, corresponding braces are made and worn for patients. Commonly used ones include ankle-foot orthosis, knee-ankle-foot orthosis, hip-knee-ankle-foot orthosis, and paraplegia walking trainer. For those with injuries above the 2nd lumbar vertebra, a paraplegic walking trainer should be preferred; for those with injuries from the 2nd to 4th lumbar vertebrae, a knee-ankle-foot orthosis can be used; for those with injuries below the 5th lumbar vertebra, an ankle-foot orthosis should be used.

6. Walk on parallel bars with the help of a suitable brace. When training, we do not focus on quantity, but we do focus on quality. After the patient can complete the movements of transferring weight - swinging legs - transferring weight again - swinging the other leg as required, we will increase the amount of training. The maximum amount of training per day can reach about 1 kilometer. This training usually lasts 1 to 6 months.

7. Practice walking with the support of a walker. After completing walking training with the support of the parallel bar brace, you can start walking training with a walker. The training requirements are the same as the previous step.