What is leg muscle rehabilitation training?

Paraplegia is caused by direct or indirect manipulation of the spinal cord. For injuries to the nerves and spinal cord, rescue and treatment should be done as promptly as possible. Since the injury time is short and the degree of nerve damage is light, the possibility of recovery is greater and the degree of recovery will be better. Well, for rehabilitation training, leg muscle rehabilitation training is very necessary and important. Let's follow the editor to learn how to train specifically.

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 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 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: First, they should undergo upright training and upper limb muscle strength training. 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: This can be done 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, make and wear corresponding braces for patients: commonly used ones are 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, do not focus on quantity, but pay attention to quality. After the patient can complete the movements of transferring weight - swinging legs - transferring weight again - swinging the other leg as required, 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. Walking training with the support of a walker: After completing walking training with the support of a brace on parallel bars, you can perform walking training with a walker. The training requirements are the same as the previous step.

8. Walking training with the support of double crutches and walking training with the support of single crutches: Most patients can transition to walking with crutches after a period of walking training with a walker.

When a paraplegic receives rehabilitation training, it does not mean that he or she is truly on the road to recovery. Spinal manipulation can cause gradual muscle atrophy, loss of related sensations and perceptions, impairment of certain organ functions such as bladder loss, or loss of certain mobility, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. Therefore, patients need further intensive treatment.