Functional Improvement: Amputation and Prosthetic Care

There’s no denying that amputation or the loss of a limb is a life-changing experience. It not only involves a tremendous physical loss, but also can be emotionally devastating. If you’re facing, or already have had, an amputation, know that you’re not alone – there’s around 1.7 million people living with limb loss in the U.S. alone.

Working with experienced professionals such as those at Ernest Health Systems who can help you through every step of the process – including prosthetic care – is vital.

Post-Operative Care

There are several options for post-operative care after you’ve had an amputation. In many cases, a rigid dressing is placed on the residual limb that protects the surgical site. A removable dressing can be taken off and put back on to allow medical staff to carefully monitor the surgical site.

Another option is a post-operative prosthesis that’s applied in the operating room immediately after surgery. Studies have shown that patients who wear an immediate prosthesis feel more optimistic and tend to recover more quickly than patients who don’t. It’s an option worth discussing with your physician and prosthetist.

Recovery

Putting things in perspective is an important early step in the recovery process. That’s not easy after a life-altering event such as an amputation, but your struggles with grief and acceptance are perfectly normal. It’s important that your friends and family will also struggle along with you, and it’s important to enjoy every success and accomplishment on your road to recovery while not focusing too much on the obstacles.

Physical Therapy

An important piece of your recovery is physical therapy. While it’s often challenging and hard work, physical therapy helps loosen the residual limb and increases muscle tone and coordination. It also helps keep joints flexible while teaching you how to use your prosthesis properly, particularly during daily activities.

Prosthetic care

Quality prosthetic care is essential to your recovery. Your prosthesis is a sophisticated tool designed to enhance your activity level and independence. As time goes on, you will become more dependent on it. Here are some things to keep in mind in terms of caring for your prosthesis.

  • Your prosthesis is a mechanical device that will sometimes require maintenance and repair. Visiting with your clinician at least once a year will help detect potential problems that can be resolved before your prosthesis becomes unusable.
  • Your medical team will give you a schedule that gradually increases the amount of time you wear your prosthesis. Everyone’s situation is different, but most people start with a couple of hours a day before progressing to wearing it all day after a few weeks.
  • It’s important to wear your shrinker or elastic bandage when you’re not wearing your prosthesis.
  • Using an assistive device such as a cane during the first several weeks will help you gradually get used to placing your weight on the prosthesis.
  • Remain physically active even when you’re not wearing your prosthesis. This will help build your stamina.

Personal Hygiene and Prosthetic Care

The residual limb can be subject to perspiration because it’s enclosed in a plastic socket. This can be a source of bacteria and should be monitored closely; you can try sprinkling baby powder on it or apply over-the-counter antiperspirant.

Rehabilitation and Teamwork

Your rehabilitation will be part of a process that involves a team of specially-trained people – including your physician, prosthetist, physical therapist, and other. This team will guide you and help you learn how to use your prosthesis correctly in a safe environment.

The Role of Support Groups for Caregivers Dealing with Strokes

As caregiver for a loved one who has suffered a stroke, you play an important part in the recovery process from the beginning. But it’s a role that also comes with many challenges and can cause high levels of mental, physical and emotional stress – both for you and the stroke survivor.

Many caregivers feel inadequately prepared to deal with the challenges of caring for someone with disabilities brought on by a stroke. But that’s why the importance of support groups – and support in general – cannot be emphasized enough.

Caregivers and Support

It’s estimated that there are 5 million stroke survivors alive in the U.S. today, with nearly 30% of them being permanently disabled as a result of their stroke. The acute nature of the disease puts extra stress on caregivers who are typically serving their same roles within their own family while also handling the duties of a caregiver.

  • Emotional Support
    According to one study, the importance of emotional support for caregivers is crucial. And the importance of informal support is similarly important, because many caregivers are apprehensive about seeking formal support for a variety of reasons, including financial and time spent apart from the care recipient.
  • Caregivers, Physical Help and Overall Health
    Caregiving can take its toll physically, as one study indicated that caregivers suffer from a variety of physical symptoms, including, headaches, fatigue, joint pain, disrupted sleep patterns, as well as a variety of emotional symptoms such as sorrow. These symptoms can increase as caregivers get older, and emphasizes the importance of friends, family, or outside help, in assisting with the physical aspects of care, including the activities of daily living. Over 80% of participants of one study reported fatigue and stress because of their caregiver duties.
  • Online Support
    The emergence of the Internet has made healthcare information available 24 hours a day and has become an important resource for caregivers. Professionally-managed online support groups are gaining credibility, and are giving caregivers the opportunity to receive personalized information through discussion groups, and also the opportunity to talk live with nurse specialists.
  • Psychological Role
    The importance of social support, which includes both emotional and physical support, has been shown to have a positive impact on a caregiver’s psychological well-being. Without assistance or support, however, experts agree that the caregiver can become the “second patient” within a family. The good news, however, is that support is available in ways that it never was before.

 

 

The Latest Technology Trends in Rehabilitation

Choosing the right rehabilitation hospital for yourself or a loved one is an important decision. You probably have plenty of questions to ask, as well as a set of criteria that must be met before you make your final choice.

But your decision will be made easier if the hospital you’re considering has kept up with the latest technology. That’s why Ernest Health Systems are a great fit: they have the latest in rehabilitative technology that’s at the foundation of superior patient care. That technology includes LiteGait, Dynavision, and VitalStim Therapy.

LiteGait

LiteGait creates an ideal, safe environment for treating patients with a wide range of impairments, and who are at different functional levels. How does it work? Through its unique harness design, LiteGait eliminates concerns for balance while training coordinated lower extremity movement, while also providing proper posture.  The LiteGait system makes it possible to adjust the weight-bearing load on the weaker side of the body by either increasing or decreasing it. It also allows the technician to assist the patient’s legs and pelvis in helping to achieve proper gait patterns. LiteGait is used in an environment that’s free from falls.

For patients, its benefits are many and include re-learning to walk with proper postures, and also beginning gait training earlier in the rehabilitative process. Moreover, it helps patients experience a sense of accomplishment.

Dynavision

Dynavsion is designed for use in rehabilitation facilities, and is a device that improves patients’ visual and motor skills that have been affected by diseases or injuries. It also allows each patient to have their own personalized rehabilitation program that best suits his or her needs – a feature that separates Dynavision from other physiotherapy devices.

Patients who use Dynavision can improve their peripheral visual awareness, hand-eye-coordination, visual attention and anticipation, as well as visual-motor reaction time. At the same time, it’s providing physicians and physical therapists with the necessary data to evaluate the patient’s gross motor skills, response to visual stimuli, and his or her ability to perform neuro-cognitive tasks.

Dynavision can be used to successfully improve the abilities of patients who may have limitations from a stroke, spinal cord injuries, head injuries, amputations, and orthopedic injuries.

VitalStim Therapy

Dysphagia, or trouble swallowing, is a common condition among stroke and brain injury survivors, and VitalStim Therapy has been proven effective in the treatment of it. VitalStim therapy involves external electrical stimulation that helps re-train the muscles needed to complete the swallowing process. Electrodes are attached to the patient’s neck and a small current is used to stimulate nerves. Over time, this therapy helps to gradually re-train the necessary muscles.

In clinical trials, VitalStim has been shown to be two or three times more effective than traditional stimulation techniques. It’s clearly an important treatment for patients with dysphagia – in which symptoms can range from mild discomfort while swallowing to losing the ability to swallow.

Utilizing Exercise to Reduce & Prevent Falls

When a toddler or child falls, he or she is likely to just shake it off and keep moving. The same is true of many young adults. But when a senior falls, the consequences can be severe – including broken bones that lead to limited mobility and a downward health spiral.

Worse, each year thousands of older Americans die as a result of breaking a hip. Finding a solution that helps decrease the number of falls for this segment of the population is clearly important. And one area that has proven to be successful in terms of fall prevention is exercise.

How Exercise Helps

Structured exercise combined with balance training helps reduce falls. Balance training remains the foundation of fall prevention programs, but exercise helps in that it:

  • Makes muscles stronger and more flexible. Stronger and larger muscles can buffer the impact of a fall and provide some protection to joints and bones.
  • Improves endurance
  • Increases how long a person can be active
  • Combining exercise and balance training enables the person to have a faster reaction time, which is important in stopping a fall (by grabbing something) before it happens.
  • Resistance exercises strengthen bones, making them more resistant to fractures in the event of a fall.

Exercises That Help Build Better Balance

There are a variety of exercises than can be done almost anywhere and at anytime that will help with fall prevention. Experts advise starting out with two or more days of exercise a week, and going slowly with exercises your doctor has said are right for you. Always breathe slowly and easy when exercising.

Here are some specific exercises that can be done to help improve balance:

 

  • Single-leg Stance
    Standing up straight with your feet together and arms at your sides, slowly lift your right leg off the floor. Hold this position for as long as you can, and then repeat with your left leg. Maintain good posture throughout this exercise and focus on a spot straight ahead. If you feel comfortable, you can even do this exercise while waiting in line at the store.
  • Toe Stand
    Start by holding on to something for support of balance – such as the back of a chair – and, keeping your back straight and knees slightly bent, push up on your tiptoes as high as possible. Then slowly lower your heels to the floor. Repeat this 10 to 15 times.
  • Leg Extension
    Leg extensions can make your thigh muscles stronger. Sitting in a straight-back chair with your feet on the floor, straighten one leg out in front of you as much as possible. Then lower your leg back down slowly. Repeat this 10 to 15 times with each leg.
  • Back Leg Stretches
    Stretching the back of your leg will increase flexibility and strength, while making it easier for you to get around. Sitting in a straight-back chair, place one foot on a stool in front of you. Straighten the leg that’s on the stool and then lean forward and try to touch your foot with your hand. Hold this stretch for 10 to 20 seconds, and repeat five times with each leg.