Body Weighting Rehab
Used during the patient’s corrective care, head and body weighting activates the body’s righting reflexes, causing the patient’s body to reposition forward under the weighted head. During this process, the patient will go through a series of exercise, while simultaneously standing on proper vibration, to activate the Cerebellum.
Front-lateral head weighting causes the patient’s body to also be laterally corrected in conjunction with forward correction.
Uses & Benefits:
- Realigns the head into proper position using the body’s natural reflexes.
- Stimulates nervous system
- Strengthens postural muscles
The weights are at the heart of your correction. They re-train your nerve-muscle connection to correct your spine and posture and give your body the ability to keep it that way. They work by using your reflex-controlled “posture” muscles. These are different from your “fast” muscles that you work out at the gym. Posture muscles are fine-tuned muscles that feed your nerve system information on balance, body position awareness, and your gravity environment. Observation and testing, including x-ray diagnostics, determine the exact placement and amount of weight to counterbalance your specific postural problem. They are for more than just strengthening the muscles. Depending on your specific situation, you may be assigned head, shoulder and/or hip weights. The combination and amount of weight may change during your care as you improve.
Cervical Extension Traction
When cervical traction is performed twice daily for the prescribed time (3-5 minutes) amazing changes will happen. Joint mobility and range of motion improve, stiffness reduces, neck curve restoration is accelerated, and pain is diminished.
The cervical traction is used twice per day from the time you start care and continues for as long as you want to enjoy the benefits of a healthy spine. Consistent use will enhance spinal joint health and mobility by warming and softening the ligaments, cartilage, and discs allowing the joints to move through a full, healthy range of motion. Additionally, it helps restore the normal neck curve (cervical lordosis).
Ligaments, discs, and joints have no blood supply (avascular). The only way they absorb nutrients and eliminate waste is through motion. The repetitive up and down action (or loading/unloading cycle) of the cervical traction acts like a pump moving nutrients in and waste materials out of the discs and joints. The mild stretching of the neck muscles also drives the remodeling of scar tissue towards a stronger and less
Wobble Chair System
When the wobble chair is used twice daily for as little as 5-9 minutes each time it works to restore normal metabolism to the discs, ligaments, and joints. Clinical cases have been reported and documented of spinal disc degeneration actually reversing! Improved joint mobility and range of motion reduces pain and stiffness. Most importantly, the wobble chair contributes to healthy brain and nervous system metabolism.
It is designed to enhance spinal joint health and mobility by warming and softening the ligaments, cartilage, and discs allowing the joints to move through a full, healthy range of motion which brings fluid and nutrients into the joints and spinal discs. The wobble chair is used two (2) times per day from the time you start care and continues for as long as you want to enjoy the benefits of a healthy spine.
Ligaments, discs, and joints have no blood supply (avascular). The only way they get nutrients in and eliminate waste is through motion. The motion must be specific to affect the disc. The pivot point must be no larger than the center (nucleus) of the disc. This is why balls, boards, and inflatable cushions won’t improve disc conditions that the wobble chair will.
In order for this to work with maximum effectiveness the motion must be done slowly enough for the disc to take in (imbibe) fluids and nutrients.
Moving your spine on the wobble chair will increase the circulation of the fluid that surrounds your brain and spinal cord, the cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF). This fluid carries nutrients, neurotransmitters and hormones that your brain and nerves need to be healthy. When these are circulated and refreshed by movement you will have a better mood and longer attention span. You will also find that your memory, focus, and cognitive function improve.
Exercise Rehabilitation
How soon can I start rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation exercises should begin as soon as possible (after the initial inflammatory phase – 72 hours) and should ‘usually’ be done been pain-free with a few rare exceptions. Be careful with the phrase “no pain, no gain” as in most cases this is not the case. Pain is the body’s response telling you to stop or slow down and if ignored, healing will be impaired.
There are a few exceptions to this, such as the tendinopathy protocols used to rehabilitate Achilles and patella tendon injuries. A medical professional’s advice should be sought before embarking on such a regime as more harm can be done than good if carried out incorrectly. It is also important that the athlete understands the reasons for following a particular treatment regime or exercise program.
For a rehab program to be successful the following tips are important:
- Begin as soon as possible, once the initial inflammation phase has passed (usually 72 hours post-injury).
- Understand why and how you are doing the exercises or treatment.
- Follow a precise but individualized exercise program to follow.
Restoring muscle strength
The first phase of rehabilitation is to progressively load the damaged (pathological) tissue (e.g. ligament, tendon or muscle) to restore its strength (often referred to as tensile strength). There is plenty of evidence to support this theory and if the load is too great for the damaged tissue to withstand, it will fail and healing will be back to square 1. Loading tissue that is repairing is a delicate process and should be led by the pain felt during the exercise or the following day. Both of the latter usually indicates that the load during the exercise was too high and needs to be reduced. It is strongly advised to listen to your body and its reaction to exercise.
Restoring muscle endurance and power
Endurance is the muscle’s ability to work repeatedly without fatiguing. Muscle endurance is especially important in endurance sports such as long-distance running or cycling but is also important in sports such as football and rugby which involve repeated bursts of exercise (called interval exercise).Muscle endurance is also important for the body’s core muscles which support the pelvis and spine and as their name suggests, they provide core strength whilst performing various exercises.
Improve flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to extend or stretch without breaking. The term is usually used to describe muscles but can also be used to describe a movement involving a number of muscles (e.g. bending forwards in standing).
While flexibility is very important, caution should be used in improving flexibility without also improving strength at the same time. If a muscle gets “longer” but not stronger then it will be weak in the additional flexible range and be prone to injury e.g. developing more hamstring flexibility by stretching without also strengthening the muscle. Read more on:
Functional exercises
Functional exercises are related to the sport or activity you are returning to. There are a number of generic exercises that can be applied to multiple sports and should be performed in the early stages of rehabilitation.
However, to effectively and efficiently return to the specific sport during which the injury occurred it is important to perform exercises that replicate activities and movements in that particular sport. For example, if returning to rugby, it is important to perform drills that are used in training, such as, tackling or passing. Muscles, ligaments, and tendons adapt to the stresses and strains that they are placed under and therefore they adapt to specific activities and sports. It is important to bear this in mind when performing late stage rehabilitation.
