The role of the neurorehabilitation phase comes after the end of the acute treatment phase for all neurological disorders such as tumors, dementia, strokes, and various brain injuries that take a long time to recover. The neurorehabilitation phase is a necessary medical process to help patients recover quickly from the nervous system from all the disease symptoms that afflict it to enhance functional and cognitive abilities as well. Therefore, we tell you during this article everything related to this important phase within the treatment phases necessary for the patient to achieve a full recovery.
What is neurological rehabilitation?
Neurorehabilitation is one of the types of therapeutic interventions that significantly contribute to the partial or complete recovery of the patient from all neurological diseases or injuries.
Rehabilitation of cognitive and sensory function in general is carried out in many ways, based in its idea on retraining all neural pathways or on training new neural pathways that contribute to improving and restoring neurocognitive performance that may have been impaired due to trauma or a specific disease.
يعتبر الهدف الأساسي من إعادة التأهيل العصبي هو المساهمة في استعادة القدرة البدنية وتحسين الأداء، بالإضافة إلى إمكانية علاج بعض المشاكل العصبية والنفسية من خلال إعادة التأهيل مثل قصور الإنتباه، وإصابة النخاع الشوكي، وارتجاج الدماغ، وفرط الحركة.
Objectives of neurorehabilitation
Neurorehabilitation programs are designed to meet all the individual needs of the patient, depending on a specific disease or problem. Therefore, it is very necessary for the patient's active participation to achieve optimal success in this treatment program.
Neurorehabilitation programs aim to return the patient to all activities with the highest level of independence and performance, in addition to improving the person's quality of life, whether physically, emotionally, or socially.
In order for the program to achieve all of the goals we mentioned, it includes the following:
- Assist the patient with all activities of daily living such as using the bathroom, eating, dressing, bathing, preparing food, handwriting, and all basic household chores.
- The neurorehabilitation program includes several training programs and exercises that contribute significantly to improving body movement by reducing and preventing weakness that results from lack of use of movement organs, managing muscle spasms and pain, and maintaining a normal range of motion.
- Contributing to the patient’s access to all devices that help enhance independence and teaching how to use them.
- Providing all safety procedures, home care requirements, and independence.
- Activities that contribute to improving problems of lack of concentration, attention, enhancing memory and poor judgement.
- Treating speech problems to achieve fluency in speaking, reading, writing, and swallowing.
- Activities that help improve body movement, control of all body muscles, balance and walking.
- Managing anxiety, stress and depression.
- Retraining bowel and bladder functions.
- Retraining all behavioral and social functions and skills.
- Contribute to all community support groups.
- Professional counseling.
- Nutritional counseling.
- Education and guidance.
- إدارة الألم.
In general, we can say that neurological rehabilitation aims to increase the individual’s quality of life and achieve independence, but please be aware that the patient may not regain his old ability to walk again without using assistive devices, or reach the stage of proper speech as before, as the result of treatment and neurological rehabilitation depends on the nature of the disease that the patient suffers from.
احجز استشارتك الأن فى مركز تأهيل الإصابات العصبية والسكتة الدماغية At Al Mousa Specialist Hospital
To whom is neurorehabilitation applied?
There are many pathological conditions affecting the nervous system in which neurological rehabilitation programs can be applied. The most prominent of these conditions are:
- Neuromuscular or structural disorders, including Bell's palsy, carpal tunnel syndrome, cervical spondylitis, brain and spinal cord tumors, peripheral neuropathy, neuropathic pain, Guillain-Barré syndrome, myasthenia gravis, and muscle dysplasia.
- Injuries and surgeries, some of which can lead to damage to the nervous system, such as brain surgeries or spine surgeries.
- All vascular disorders, including cerebral hemorrhage, strokes, and transient ischemic attacks.
- Infections include meningitis, brain abscesses, polio, and encephalitis.
- Various traumas, including brain and spinal cord injuries.
- Occasional disturbances include dizziness, headache, and seizures.
- All diseases that cause nerve damage and pain, including diabetes.
- All degenerative diseases of the body's nerves such as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
- The syndrome that affects a person after recovering from polio.
- Spinal cord injuries.
- All brain injuries.
- Having multiple sclerosis.
- Cerebral palsy.
- Rehabilitation after stroke.
Diseases and conditions that require neurological rehabilitation
All neurological rehabilitation services aim to provide an opportunity for early intervention that prevents the deterioration of the patient’s health condition, enhances his abilities, and restores his previous health. Here are the most prominent pathological cases that require neurological rehabilitation as follows:
- Stroke: One of the emergency medical conditions that causes the blood to stop reaching the brain, which also prevents the delivery of nutrients and oxygen, as it results in the death of brain cells within a few minutes and the loss of functions and functional capabilities in them.
- Multiple sclerosis: a disease condition during which an attack occurs by the body's immune system against the surrounding layer to protect the nerves of the spinal cord and the brain, which results in an obstruction in the communication of the brain nerves with each other, thus causing physical and mental disability if it is not treated appropriately.
- Neuromuscular disorders: Most diseases of the neuromuscular system become so advanced and debilitating over time that they may cause death, or experience some difficulties, including weakness, numbness, pain, sensory loss, and paralysis.
- Cerebral palsy: a type of neurological disorder that usually occurs to a child immediately after birth or during his life’s journey in the first five years. It occurs because the child is exposed to damage to the brain, which leads to a negative impact on his motor abilities, ultimately resulting in general weakness of the body’s muscles.
- Parkinson's disease: Disorders that affect the nervous system and mainly affect the motor system as well, so that the patient's movement is very limited, and perhaps with the passage of time things develop gradually, starting with a slight tremor, followed by stiffness in the extremities of the body, then a delay in movement, with the appearance of some speech problems, which also increase over time.
Rafah Center for Mental Health
Rafah Center for Mental Health It is one of the most prominent institutions specialized in providing integrated psychological care in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The center aims to enhance the quality of life of individuals who face psychological challenges, by providing a variety of therapeutic and preventive services. It also features outpatient clinics and inpatient units, which allows it to meet the needs of patients of all kinds. These programs have been carefully designed to support patients who suffer from conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction.
Outpatient services are provided through the Rafah Center, which provide comprehensive and accurate assessment of the psychological state and neurological rehabilitation, in addition to customized treatment plans that suit the needs of each individual. Comprehensive treatment programs are developed to ensure the best results. These services also include individual therapy sessions, family therapy, medication management, in addition to holistic treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy, art therapy, and recreational therapy.
The center's inpatient units also provide a safe and comfortable therapeutic environment designed specifically for patients who need continuous follow-up or intensive therapeutic interventions. The center includes 24 individual rooms that guarantee patients privacy and comfort, which contributes to creating an ideal environment for healing and achieving psychological well-being.
Top frequently asked questions about neurorehabilitation
Can the nervous system be healed?
When one of the nerves of the nervous system in the human body is exposed to an injury without being cut off, it is very likely that the injury will heal and the wound will heal again, while if that injury is a complete severing of the nerves, it requires a very long treatment period, at the end of which it is likely that it will not completely heal and healing again becomes very difficult. Therefore, the effectiveness of the treatment can be attributed to the cause of the injury, its size, and the extent of nerve healing, as follows:
- When the nerves heal properly, this can replace the need for surgery. Only the area that was affected needs complete rest in order to heal well, as the body’s nerves generally recover very slowly more than other organs, and the recovery period can reach months or even years, and it may require neurological rehabilitation.
- The extent to which nerves respond to proper healing can be determined through periodic examinations performed by a health care professional.
- Conditions of the nervous system are treated by health care professionals if they are caused by a medical condition. This is done by taking medications that relieve pain, or by injecting corticosteroids if the patient suffers from peripheral nerve injuries.
- Some cases require physical therapy, such as neurological rehabilitation, which prevents muscle stiffness and helps restore function, and this is recommended by healthcare professionals.
What is the best food to strengthen the nerves?
Many people need to learn about the different foods and foods that help in strengthening the nerves, and there are many of them, the most prominent of which are the following:
- Some vegetables: There are some types of vegetables that are important for improving the health of the nervous system and strengthening it. The most prominent of these types are leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, avocado, and beets.
- Protein-rich legumes: including fava beans, chickpeas, and black beans.
- Grains: There are many different types of foods that are very important to include in the diet to greatly strengthen the nerves, including whole grains such as brown rice, oats, and millet.
- Seeds: There is a group of seeds rich in omega-3 acid, which have many benefits for the body as well as the nervous system, most notably flax seeds and chia seeds.
- Nuts: Nuts are one of the most important sources of serotonin, which has great effectiveness in calming the nerves and improving mood, including almonds, walnuts, and cashews.
- Fish rich in omega-3 acid: including salmon, tuna, and sardines.
- Meat and animal products: All animal products rich in various types of vitamin B are very useful for strengthening the nervous system and protecting it from damage, such as beef and liver.
- Mushrooms: Mushrooms contain a high percentage of vitamin B6, which has a significant positive effect on neurotransmitters and serotonin production, so it greatly improves mood and helps fight depression.
Will the nerves return to what they were?
It is possible to recover completely from various nervous system injuries that affect the nerve in various ways, whether it is a crack, cut, or inflammation, but some cases of cut may not heal completely and remain a chronic injury for life and must be lived with.
In general, the nerves return to normal after a recovery period ranging from three to six months until they completely improve, and after that period has passed, if the patient does not achieve recovery, this means that it is a chronic disability.
Some cases of peripheral neuropathy can be treated for as long as several months or even several years.
Al Mousa Specialist Hospital provides all stages of physical therapy for various diseases, especially neurological rehabilitation, which is necessary after the end of the treatment journey for many diseases that affect the nervous and muscular systems and many other body systems and organs. Therefore, we advise you to visit this distinguished treatment center among all the centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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