Paralysis is characterized by loss of movement, muscle function, and sensation. The patient is unable to function normally in the aftermath of a paralysis attack. The disorder affects people in different ways. It is either partial or complete. It afflicts one or both sides of the body. It arises in one or several areas and can either be short-term (post a stroke) or long-term (due to spinal cord damage). There are different types of paralysis such as Monoplegia, Hemiplegia, Paraplegia, and Quadriplegia. Some symptoms that are associated with paralysis include loss of memory, loss of hearing, clumsiness, drooling, and changes in behavioural patterns.

Why Physiotherapy for Paralysis?

Physiotherapy is recommended for people affected by paralysis for many reasons. Physiotherapy helps relax the muscles and boosts the flow of blood within the body. Patients are advised to use braces, splints, orthosis, and canes by physiotherapists to facilitate movement in their condition. Wheelchairs are also advised so that the patient can move about a little if they have lost sensation in the lower limbs.
In case of brain injuries, the practice can reduce the swelling and promote healing.
Paralytics are also given counselling sessions for boosting their morale. They are encouraged, educated by their practitioners and can go a long way in improving their condition.
Physiotherapy exercises are also useful for restoring lost strength in the afflicted muscles, which, in turn, prevents deformity in the limbs. Physiotherapy exercises can restore sensation and subsequently the movement in the affected area.
The health problems of the patients are also addressed during physiotherapy. Also, the underlying causes of the disorder are treated, and this helps in restoring mobility for the patient.
Physiotherapy treatment helps the patient to adjust to daily life after suffering a stroke. The efforts are directed towards making them independent. As part of the treatment program, the patients are advised about various aspects, including exercises, surgical procedures, medicines and other self-care methods. Physiotherapy produces results over time and is not an immediate solution to the problem.
Paralysis   What type of diet should you go for?

Physiotherapists advise the patients suffering from paralysis to eat a nutritious diet. Intake of B-complex vitamins is very important, such as vitamin-B12 and niacin, the patients can improve the functioning of their nervous system.
Essential fats are also recommended due to their anti-inflammatory properties and ability to restore the health of the nervous system. Some food sources of these nutrients include walnuts, flaxseeds, beans, bananas, pumpkin seed oil, potatoes, and lentils.
It is important to note that physiotherapy practices can help people with paralysis in several ways. Most importantly, the victims receive encouragement and counseling from the physiotherapists who guide them towards a treatment option that can help restore normalcy in their lives.

Paralysis - How Physiotherapy Will Help In Treating It?

CEREBRAL PALSY (CP) Group of disorder of movement and posture because of defects and disease of brain, the damage may occur in Uterus during gestation, during birth process, or during he first few years of life. Cerebral Palsy is most common motor disorder in infants and children and is the commonest cause of physical disabilities in childhood.

The word cerebral means having to do with the brain The word palsy means a weakness or problem in the way a person moves or how he positions his body. A Child with CP might have trouble controlling the muscles in his body. Normally, the brain tells the rest of the body exactly what to do and when to do it. But because CP affects the brain, depending on what part of the brain is affected, a child might not be able to walk, talk, eat, or play the same way most children do.

Classification of Cerebral Palsy:

There are five types of cerebral palsy: spastic, athetoid, ataxic, Hypotonic and mixed (combination of any), and further catagorised according to topographic distribution: Quadriplegia, Diplegia and Hemiplegia

Signs and Symptoms: 

The most common type of CP is spastic. A kid with spasticity can't relax his muscles or his muscles may be stiff. Athetoid CP affects a kid's ability to control his muscles. This means that the arms or legs that are affected by athetoid CP may flutter and move suddenly. A kid with ataxic CP has problems with balance and coordination. Some kids with CP use wheelchairs and others walk with the help of crutches or braces. In some cases, a kid's speech may be affected or he might not be able to speak at all. To learn more about CP, what causes it, and what living with CP is like, keep reading.

Cerebral palsy is very difficult and challenging to all sciences of healing. Allopathic system has no effective medicine to help except physiotherapy, surgical corrections, Botox or Botulinum Toxins and many psychological aids. But it has helped very little. In cerebral palsy, the motor area of cerebral cortex is damaged along with other areas of brain.

The commonest causes are birth injuries, obstetrical complications, high-grade fevers, and prolonged jaundice at birth, head injury, Chronic Infections to mother and genetically aberrations. So, the doctor's job is to repair the damaged area maximum possible. The exact extent of damage caused is difficult to assess, but CAT scan, MRI, PET, Psychological tests, I.Q. tests, clinical sensory motor developmental milestones and other tests can give rough idea about the damage.

The brain development normally completes within 5 years of age. CP child has damaged brain, so it develops very slowly. It is mostly; motor area damaged, so motor mile stone comes alter. Depending upon the severity of damage, the development will occur. Apart from the brain damage, the poor management and spasticity adds to orthopedic disabilities. These children have low resistant power, so gets frequent infections of URI (cold, cough and fever), diarrhea, malaria etc.

Now, How homeopathy can help these children?

Homeopathy helps these children in many ways. Firstly, it improves I.Q., which no other system can do. It improves neuromuscular abilities, so motor milestones start appearing faster. It improves in swallowing, neck handling, sitting, standing and walking. It improves in understanding of the child and calculating capacity, schooling capacity. 

Secondly, it completely stops recurrent infections. So deterioration of the child stops and regains immunity to fight diseases.

Thirdly it improves cognitive ability of children also helps to improve associate psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, conduct disorders and hyperkinesis.

It helps in improving flaccidity, spasticity of limb muscles, squint deglutition. (Hence, food taking) Fortunately, severely damaged children are statistically less. So, mostly children with mild and moderate damage are the best helped by homeopathy.

Cerebral Palsy - Types, Symptoms & Homeopathic Treatment Of It!

Facial paralysis can happen due to many factors. Sometimes inflammation develops around the facial nerve as it passes through the skull from the brain. This presses on the nerve and makes it stop functioning. As the nerve stops functioning, so does the muscle it controls.


This is what happens in Bell s palsy, the most common cause of facial paralysis.


Bell s palsy can happen to anyone and its cause is, hold your breath, a viral infection. Herpes zoster, Varicella zoster and HIV viruses can cause Bell s palsy.


Bell's palsy is a common cause of a facial paralysis but there are many others too that affect or damage facial nerve. These include head injury, sarcoidosis, lyme disease, growths in the ear, tumours in the parotid gland, brain tumours and stroke.


The weakness of the face usually one-sided is a symptom of Bell s palsy. The face may droop to one side, chewing food is also tough, drooling, dry eyes and difficulty wrinkling forehead and speech are other symptoms of Bell s palsy, the most common reason for facial paralysis.


Treatment:
The type of therapy you receive for facial paralysis will depend on its cause. It will also develop on how long you ve suffered from facial paralysis and the extent of damage to the facial nerve.


Your physiotherapist can help and so can speech and language therapists to deal with the issue.


In physiotherapy, a treatment called 'facial retraining' with facial exercises helps with facial palsy. It is important that you seek help from a therapist who specialises in facial rehabilitation only.


This is what you can expect from facial rehabilitation therapy-
Exercises for eye care
Exercises for dry mouth management
Exercises to make drinking and eating easier
Speech therapy
Your physiotherapist will educate you on how the facial nerve works and how it recovers. This is important to make you recover. A home therapy programme plays an important role too. It includes massages to keep face muscles mobile and healthy, stretches to lengthen muscles, exercises to help re-learn balanced facial movements and relaxation of your facial nerve and muscles.


The physiotherapist will work on your facial movement to make muscles fit. The basic idea is to slowly rewire the brain-to-nerve-to-muscle pathway. The physiotherapist s first step is to retrain you to do correct movements voluntarily, while mentally focusing on the movement.


Physiotherapy may take months but keep at it to recover completely, especially the home exercises.


Injections of botulinum toxin or Botox also help especially if you suffer from spasms in facial muscles. Surgery is also an option for chronic cases.


Remember that exercises should be done gently as well as daily to reap benefits. Always do these exercises with the help of a therapist only. Doing exercises by yourself can be counter- productive.


Facial Paralysis - How Can Physiotherapy Help You Get Better?

As children, you have probably learnt that paralysis is complete inability to move, sense, touch or control other bodily sensations. But little did we know that paralysis comes in many forms depending on the extent to which a person is immobilized. So, what is the difference between partial and total paralysis?

What is Total Paralysis?
Whether temporary or permanent, paralysis is the inability to move part of the body due to nerve damage. However it does not mean that people with total paralysis cannot move any parts of the body   they can still use their faces and necks. The extensive form of paralysis is typically referred to as quadriplegia, which involves diminished or absence of movement in the trunk, arms, legs, hands and feet. Some common symptoms of total paralysis are as follows:

Difficulty swallowing
Unable to control bowels and bladder
Pain anywhere in the body
No sensation below the site of injury
Difficulty breathing
What is partial paralysis?
A smaller portion of the body is affected by partial paralysis. One of the most common types of partial paralysis is Paraplegia that occurs below the waist. If affects both the legs, hips and other functions. Other forms of partial paralysis can be Monoplegia where a single area like one limb gets affected and Hemiplegia where parts of the body on the same side get affected. Some common symptoms of partial paralysis are as follows:

Inability to walk
Difficulty with sexual functioning
Pain below the site of injury
Unable to feel or move your legs or arms
How to Predict the type of paralysis?
The location of the injury or site of nerve damage will usually determine the type of paralysis. Damages in the cervical spinal cord almost inevitably lead to total paralysis associated with quadriplegia. The higher the injury is located, the more extensive the paralysis will be. Lower injuries commonly lead to partial paralysis. The prognosis is generally much better with this type of paralysis. With proper care and therapy, individuals may experience intermittent difficulties with movement and can regain.

Can paralysis be treated?
Whether it is total paralysis or partial paralysis, the positive prognosis is certainly possible, given the condition of the patient and other factors. Physical therapy involves teaching the brain and spinal cord to work around the damage and also aid neuron healing over time. Paralysis can be classified under a number of ways and the most basic classification is that of partial or complete paralysis. Talk to your doctor to understand what type of paralysis you have and adopt a positive outlook to help you towards recovery.

Partial Vs Complete Paralysis - Know The Difference!

Paralysis is a chronic medical disease characterized by a loss of muscle function in the body accompanied by sensory loss. The patient is unable to control the paralysed muscle consciously. Most common causes of injury are stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and head injury.  There are 4 types of paralysis and the effect may be complete or partial. The effect may be confined to only one space or multiple areas; and it may affect one or both sides of the body. Paralysis, on one hand, can be brief and may last for a short time; if not, it can be long term or permanent too. 

Physiotherapy is a health care profession wherein diseases are assessed, diagnosed and treated via exercise. It is also used to prevent a particular disability or disease. Science has yet to discover a cure for paralysis but the aim of physiotherapy is to make the patient as independent as possible. Depending on the affected area and the extent of paralysis, physiotherapy is started. Doctors recommend physiotherapy for paralysis for the following reasons

Physiotherapy should be started immediately because it improves blood circulation and relaxes the affected muscles. It can also inhibit the advancement of paralysis and develop muscle tone and the general well-being of the patient.
If the brain has suffered a severe external injury, physiotherapy assists in reducing the swelling and fastens the recovery process.
It aims at making the patient mobile and fully functioning.
Physiotherapy focuses on the maintenance of respiratory function.
Prevents pressure sores and contracture.
The physiotherapist sometimes works on unaffected muscles to compensate for the paralysed ones. Physiotherapy maintains and builds muscular strength in the affected areas. This action prevents deformation of limbs.
Physiotherapy training helps in managing paralyzed bladder and bowel movements.
Physiotherapy helps in building the morale of the patient and motivates the patient to be independent.
A side effect of Paralysis is post-traumatic depression that includes anxiety, denial hostility. The patient is often angry which may worsen his condition. Physiotherapy helps in controlling these feelings and gives the patient hope.
A physiotherapist suggests adaptive and modern equipment such as a splint, orthosis, braces as well as a cane for the disabled person depending on severity of the condition.

Paralysis - How Physiotherapy Can Be Helpful?

There are various forms of Paralysis. Paralysis of the lower limbs is one of the most severe forms of Paralysis. It is also known as Paraplegia. People suffering from such Paralysis lose all sense below the waist. They cannot move their legs or hips, cannot void without help, and cannot have intercourse. They barely feel anything below their waist. However, the degree of inability may vary from one person to another.

In people suffering from such Paralysis, there is usually substantial impairment in movement. Though such inability is not necessarily permanent, rarely do people recover from such inability. Lower Limb Paralysis may put people at risk of deep Vein Thrombosis.

Causes of Lower Limbs Paralysis:

Paralysis of the lower limbs usually results from injury to the spinal cord or the brain. However, spinal cord injury is the most common cause of such Paralysis. Such injuries inhibit the ability of the brain to receive and send signals from lower limbs. Causes of such inability may include:

Infections in the spinal cord

Lesions of the spinal cord

Tumors in the brain

Infections in the brain  

Nerve damage at the hip or waist.

Oxygen deprivation in the brain or spinal cord due to choking, violence, or surgical accidents.

Stroke

Congenital spinal cord deformities such as Spina Bifida etc.

However, the most common cause of Lower Limb Paralysis is congenital spinal deformity, such as Spina Bifida. The degree of Paralysis depends on the location of the spinal lesion and the extent of spinal cord or nerve damage. Some people with spinal lesions may even walk independently if the lesion is lower down the spine. However, people with upper spinal lesions are usually not able to do that. They may require ortho shoes as well as walking aids in order to ambulate. If these don t work, they may need wheelchairs for mobility. Usually these people learn to ambulate with the aid of ankle foot orthoses.

Treatment of Lower Limbs Paralysis:

There is no treatment for Paralysis. However, in some cases, people suffering from Lower Limb Paralysis are able to regain some of their ability with the help of physical therapy. What physiotherapy does is that it retains the spinal cord and the brain to strengthen nerve connections and muscles so that patients can work around their limitations. If paralysis is due to some underlying cause, removal of the cause can treat the patient.

If an infant is found to be suffering from Spina Bifida, doctors can operate on his spinal cord and bring down the severity of the problem. Such children are less likely than others to use walking devices.

Bowel and Bladder Management:

This is a serious aspect of Lower Limb Paralysis. Patients need to undergo routine bladder and bowel evaluation and device management plans to reduce the risk of organ damage.

Conclusion:

There is hardly any treatment for Lower Limb Paralysis. However, physical therapy may solve some of the problems. If it does not, management of bowel and bladder and watching out for deep Vein Thrombosis should be done on a regular basis.

One can also use alternative methods like Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Massage, and other holistic treatments. However, it is always recommended to consult an orthopedic doctor before opting for any methods.

Paralysis Of Lower Limbs!

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