Rehabilitation
As your pain starts to decrease you will be transitioned into more active care, which includes therapeutic exercises, stretching, and neuromuscular re-education. This phase of care centers around the concept of strengthening the patient's core musculature and improving the patient's ability to sense his or her environment better with the use of balance activities. Integrating balance allow for the patient to be better prepared for the challenges life throws at us on a daily basis. Being better prepared for these unexpected events from a physiological sense allows for the patient to avoid a future injury. Life is dynamic, not single plane, and thus rehabilitation should mimic these dynamic activities.
Many of the exercises we have learned at the gym work only a few muscles at a time. Most daily tasks require the recruitment of several different groups of muscles to properly perform a specific task. If we are not training (rehabbing) in a manor that prepares us for real life situations or a particular sporting activity, then we are potentially creating a biomechanical/muscle imbalance. This imbalance could then contribute to a biomechanical fault and eventually may even cause another problem in the form of a pain syndrome or musculoskeletal dysfunction.
Balance training/rehabilitation stimulates the pressure receptors in the feet and joints that, in turn, send information to the brain. The brain reacts to this information by sending back instructions to the postural muscles to adjust muscle tension to help the body maintain its balance. Training using coordinated balance and strengthening techniques prepares the patient to deal with life’s little mishaps. For instance, have you ever lifted a box and all of a sudden the contents of the box slide or shift? This type of event could, and many times will cause an injury to the person lifting the box. The rehab protocols used at NOVA spine & injury center that were developed by Dr. David Shaffer while working with professional athletes help to prepare you for such events. It is my goal, as it should be for every doctor or clinic, to keep you out of my office. These techniques are designed to accomplish that goal by helping to prevent future injuries.Athletic enhancement is another benefit of the rehab techniques used in our clinic.
