Rehabilitation with Motion Guidance
NorCal Brain Center is excited to announce that we are incorporating a fantastic new rehabilitative instrument into our toolbox for treatment and recovery- the motion guidance visual feedback system. We are certain that this new technology will provide faster and more effective recovery for our patients, guiding them back to health.
What is Motion Guidance?
Motion Guidance is a visual feedback system that uses a laser device to direct the patient’s movements as they perform rehabilitation exercises, guiding them to focus most on the motions that will provide the most benefit and helping cue them to build good habits.
The device is attached to the patient’s body via a strap, (to a leg, or around the waist etc.) and the laser is trained to a target or series of targets on the floor or wall. The patient is then directed to move in such a way to make the laser trace a pattern or hit the targets in sequence.
This type of therapy provides visual stimulus to the patient, creating an engaging “game” and maintaining the patient’s interest and focus over what could have been boring repetitions of many exercises.
What are the Benefits of this Tool?
As mentioned above, the Motion Guidance laser is of great use in making rehabilitative exercise more engaging and easy to focus on. This is not its only benefit, however. The system is also of great use in helping patients with Joint Positional Awareness.
Joint positional awareness is the way we understand where our bodies are in space. This understanding is very often damaged after illness or injury such as whiplash. After a whiplash injury, for example, victims often have a hard time determining their head position (whether it is tilted front or back, or if their neck is hanging forward or not).
Using the Motion Guidance laser, patients can be trained to readjust their head and neck position by placing the laser on their heads and asking them to engage in rehabilitative exercises that retrain them to sense their head and neck in a correct, or healthy position. By asking patients to do specific exercises that emphasize their JPA and the muscular control that they need to maintain healthy JPA, they can retrain themselves to maintain it.
What Conditions Might Be Helped By This Therapy?
Whiplash is one type of injury that may be helped by this tool through rehabilitation. There are many others, however. These include:
- Balance, instability and vertigo disorders
- Range of motion issues for neck and spine
- Range of motion issues for shoulder joint issues
- Strengthening of neck and spine
- Strengthening of knee joint after knee surgery or knee replacement
Evidence suggests that external-focus feedback- giving the patient a visual goal to focus on, makes the rehabilitation process easier to stick with and less frustrating to work through. We at NorCal brain center are excited to see how this new tool will work for our patients to help them work quickly and effectively to help them recover from brain, back and other injuries and get back to living their normal lives.
Schedule a visit today to see how our experts in rehabilitation can design a plan including motion guidance and other cutting-edge tools to get you moving and focusing on the path back to health!
