Neurological rehabilitation

Kliniken Schmieder

Neurological rehabilitation in Germany

The nervous system in the human body is conditionally divided into two components, central and peripheral, forming a single mechanism. In general, the nervous system performs the most critical functions in the process of human life. Its activities ensure the regulation of the work of all body systems, reactions occurring in it, and the ability to respond to changes in the conditions of external and internal environments. Given the importance of the nervous system, diseases affecting its structures can be accompanied by extremely severe complications.

Neurological rehabilitation, also known as neurorehabilitation or rehabilitation of neurological patients, is a relatively young field of medicine dedicated to solving problems caused by neurological pathologies. This treatment area is necessary to relieve complications and consequences of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Neurorehabilitation can be regarded as a measure of continuation of conservative therapy or a way of recovery after surgical treatment of pathologies of the nervous system. The goals of neurological rehabilitation are reduced to a comprehensive restoration of the patient’s body. It implies eliminating motor disorders, solving problems of a psycho-emotional nature, working on socialization, etc. Thus, neurorehabilitation enables patients with neurological diseases to return to their previous life or acquire skills that improve their quality of life.

Features of neurological rehabilitation

Neurological rehabilitation is an extensive area of ​​medicine covering treating a wide range of disorders caused by neuralgic pathologies. Consistency and an integrated approach are essential for fully recovering the functions lost by the patient. For this reason, rehabilitation programs are all developed individually, taking into account the diseases, the methods of treatment used, and specific complications.

In general, the neurological rehabilitation section includes full and partial recovery of patients in the following areas:

• Medical therapy is a continuation of conservative therapy developed for treating neurological diseases. The necessary drugs are prescribed by a neurologist, taking into account the etiological features, the stage of progression of the disease, the results of the diagnostics, and other factors. In the rehabilitation process, it is possible to adjust to drug therapy; for this purpose, additional diagnostics are carried out, and the dynamics of the patient’s recovery are recorded.
• Physiotherapy is an extensive cluster of techniques that allows not only to deal with movement disorders but also to restore the tropism of brain tissues, conduct nerve impulses, and expand the patient’s adaptive capabilities. All methods of physiotherapy are conditionally divided into physical and hardware. The former include physiotherapy and gymnastics, massage, acupuncture, water exercises, bobath therapy, etc. Hardware physiotherapy includes techniques for which specialized equipment is used (magnetotherapy, electrophoresis, laser therapy, etc.).
• Mechanotherapy is a branch of physiotherapy. The principles of mechanotherapy are based on using various sports equipment and devices. Thus, it is possible to involve specific nerve centers and muscle groups and clearly define the patient’s required volume of physical activity. As a result, some methods of mechanotherapy are more effective if it is necessary to achieve an impact on specific muscle groups, to solve isolated problems provoked by a neurological disease.
• Psychotherapy is an important medical specialty in almost every case of neurological rehabilitation. The loss of some functions and the realization of the fact of the disease become a severe psychological test for the patient. Psychologists and psychotherapists are involved in rehabilitation to avoid prolonged depression and neurotic conditions and minimize other psycho-emotional disorders. Psychotherapy sessions can take place both individually and in a group format. In addition, psychotherapy is important for the socialization of a person who has had a neurological disease and is faced with its consequences.

Each of the described specialties of neurorehabilitation has its own “subsections” and branches necessary to solve specific problems. Thanks to this, it is possible to flexibly approach the process of patient recovery, taking into account the individual characteristics of the clinical case. For example, physiotherapy methods can restore motor functions, but this is not only about the movements of the arms or legs; there are separate areas for restoring fine motor skills, respiratory processes, swallowing reflex, etc.

What pathologies are treated with neurological rehabilitation?

In modern medicine, many neurological diseases differ in etiological factors, course features, etc.

Iya, to one degree or another, is necessary for most of these pathologies. Neurorehabilitation is especially important for the following diseases and injuries:

• traumatic brain injury;
• mechanical damage to the spine;
• damage to peripheral nerves as a result of trauma;
• local inflammatory lesions of the nerves;
• ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes;
• multiple sclerosis;
• malignant and benign brain tumors;
• various forms of encephalitis;
• epilepsy;
• Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lyme’s diseases;
• Guillain-Bare syndrome, etc.

It is important to understand that within the neurological rehabilitation framework, the disease’s degree of progression and its course features are of decisive importance. For these reasons, rehabilitation programs at Kliniken Schmieder are always developed individually for every patient.