26th November 2019
People with stroke do not develop swinging of a stiff leg when walking (called a hemiplegic gait) because of the stroke. They develop this way of walking due to the brain going into compensation mode with the unaffected side and then not recovering multisensory integration to weight bear and balance on the affected side. They learn to balance and weight bear on the stronger side and temporarily use the weaker side to touch the ground so the stronger leg can step forward. At NRNRS it has been a privilege to reverse this in people who have lived with stroke for months to years. It adds quality to living with a stroke.
8th April 2020
Video consultations during the difficult COVID-19 period, continue to demonstrate that telerehabilitation based on sound scientific protocols that emphasise recovery rather than compensation, is as good as face to face consultations, for mild to moderate impairments. I have seen some of the happiest faces as people have taken charge of their exercise programmes and progressed to independent mobility without walking aids and proudly show off. It becomes so obvious how much weight a person, couple or family had been carrying over months to years. The joy is like a tonne of bricks has been lifted off them. These past 2 weeks the comments made by people I guide to rehabilitate themselves for recovery. has brought tears to my eyes. It just makes it all so worthwhile. At NRNRS we innovate and transform lives.
26th November 2019
In all my 23 years of practice I have not helped but notice the amount of splints that end up in patients’ cupboards or waste sites. I have also been frustrated by how futile it seemed, that no matter what many of my colleagues and I did on spastic upper limbs, the intermediate and long term outcomes were never positive for impairment and function.
The good thing is that it made me dig deeper into the neurosciences. I have learnt a lot that is now benefitting my chronic stroke patients. Since the year 2005, when evidence suggested that forceful passive stretching of tight spastic flexors only led to unobservable micro tears which change regular dense connective tissue to subsequently harder to stretch irregular dense connective tissue, I stopped stretching flexors.
So what is to be done? Muscle tone is modulated by reticular and vestibular spinal tracts’ actions on inhibitory spinal interneurons. Stimulating the anti-gravity extensor systems automatically improves reciprocal inhibition of the flexors and for the first time in my practice I am noticing improvements in impairment with voluntary movements eventually expressing themselves. Function then improves; all with no forceful stretching or use of splints. At the UKSF 2019 presentations on the subject of spasticity after stroke, were emphasizing targeting the antagonists when managing spasticity. The roles of the reticular formation and the central vestibular system were also highlighted. Putting science into practice may ease the pain and discomfort chronic stroke patients experience.
