Spinal Cord Injury Case Study

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Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury both have detrimental effects on the body function. Commonly, they result in some levels of muscle weakness and paralysis. The complications after a stroke or a spinal cord injury negatively impact not only the patients’ health, but their quality of life. Therefore, it is important that rehabilitation therapy starts at an early stage after the incidence to enable the patients to adapt to their new conditions and maximise their life. Physical activity and exercise program are one of the most important part of rehabilitation, which help the patients to achieve better health outcomes and lifestyle.
• Stroke
Nowadays, stroke has become one of the major causes of death and lifelong disability in adults …show more content…

Regular exercise program is known to be beneficial for people with SCI. Exercise program designed for SCI patients is somewhat similar to the program for stroke survivors. However, it should be noted that the concerns for each condition are different, so there must be focus on specific requirements for the individual. Stroke survivors’ disability depends on the area of the brain that is damaged, whereas the disability of individuals with SCI depends on the damage in their spine. Therefore, detailed assessment of the spinal lesion must be carried out before designing exercise program for a person with SCI (Jacobs & Nash, 2004). An exercise program that combines mobility activities, aerobic resistance, strength, coordination, recreation, and relaxation can improve their functionality and fitness (Durán, Lugo, Ramírez & Lic, 2001). The individual should have 3 sessions per week with the total of 120 minutes (Durán, Lugo, Ramírez & Lic, 2001). The duration of each session can be shorter at first and increased over time to avoid injury and overwhelming stress for the patients. Some very common modalities of exercise for this group include arm crank ergometry and swimming. This is because SCI often causes paralysis and weakness in the lower limbs, which makes sense to place more focus on the upper extremity exercise modes in order to achieve the desired fitness level (Nash,

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