 | Deb Wetta, RN, is a Director of Marketing/RN liaison for Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital, an affiliate of HealthSouth, provider of inpatient and outpatient physical, occupational and speech-language therapies and exclusive home of the AutoAmbulator, Makoto and Interactive Metronome. Deb can be reached at Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital, 8338 W. 13th Street in Wichita, 316-729-1140. |
Health & Medicine
2009-12-01 08:24:00
Living with residuals after a stroke
QUESTION: My father recently suffered an accident to his arm and hand. He is having difficulty using it and I want to know what are our options considering therapy?
ANSWER: It sounds like your father may benefit from therapy using the Saebo Arm Training Program. Specially trained therapists can use the Saebo system to help your father exercise the muscle groups in his hand and arm. With improved muscle tone, your father may regain function in his hand, allowing him to perform many of the daily tasks of living.
The Saebo Arm Training Program is performed with orthotics known as SaeboFlex and SaeboReach, which are custom-fitted to the hand and arm to provide support and resistance during exercise. SaeboFlex features a system of springs fitted to the hand, wrist, and fingers that immediately give the patient the ability to grasp and release while performing various tasks directed by a therapist. SaeboReach extends the system above the elbow, using springs as well as tension cords to strengthen the muscle groups used to bend the arm.
Your father does not need to be able to move his fingers to take advantage of this program, it is ideal for patients who have limited movement in their arm or elbow, but minimal or no movement in their hand. It is also suitable for patients who have reached a plateau in their treatment or are years beyond their initial injury. In fact, Saebo has helped patients improve their hand function as much as nineteen years after suffering a stroke.
If determined by a Saebo trained therapist to be an appropriate form of treatment, Saebo can be prescribed as part of a home therapy program. In fact, Medicare will pay for all but $375 of the system. Your father’s physician would need to prescribe an evaluation for treatment and his occupational therapist will determine if Saebo is the proper therapy to be used.
