Welcome back once again to ThreeSpiresPhysiotherapy's blog, having looked last time at our elderly rehabilitation service I thought that this blog might cover our neurological physiotherapy service that we deliver to patients across Staffordshire. It should also lead nicely into the next blog which will take a look at one of the most common and often catastrophic neurological conditions - stroke. Our home visit physiotherapy service provides invaluable and essential rehabilitation to patients with a wide range of neurological conditions including multiple sclerosis, stroke and cerebral palsy - being able to receive physiotherapy at home is of enormous benefit to these patients as often they find mobilising difficult and time consuming.

Before considering what our neurological rehabilitation service consists of it is essential to understand clearly what is meant by a "neurological condition". This is a condition or problem that is affecting the brain and nervous system. One of the most well known is a stroke - this normally affects one particular side of a person's body and can often have long lasting negative effects such as muscle weakness and loss of balance. Physiotherapy is able to help promote normal movement, aid mobility and help recover strength; it is considered essential to have good and early access to physiotherapy in order to maximise recovery. There are a number of other neurological conditions that our physiotherapists treat including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), peripheral nerve injuries and Cerebral Palsy. 

To better see the ways in which home visit physiotherapy might assist with neurological problems we can take a brief look at a typical patient and the process that they will undergo in rehabilitation.

Initially an assessment and treatment session is arranged with a physiotherapist who then visits the patient at home. Commonly this is the only way for some of our neurological patients to access rehabilitation as they find walking extremely difficult and travelling to a clinic is almost impossible. Furthermore, being assessed and treated at home allows a fuller picture of the problems that the patient is facing to be gained by the visiting physiotherapist.

In the initial session a verbal history of what has been happening will be taken by the physiotherapist, this is important in order to ascertain what goals the patient has, what restrictions and difficulties they are facing and also to examine any past medical history. This verbal discussion section is vital to the overall rehabilitation process as it allows a clear understanding to be formed between the patient and physiotherapist as to what the patient wants and what is achievable. Next is a neurological physical assessment which examines a range of factors: range of movement, muscle strength, co-ordination, gait, postural reactions and balance. This allows the physiotherapist to determine the physical limitations that the patients is experiencing and in conjunction with the information from the earlier discussion allows a personalised treatment plan to be formed. The treatment element for the majority of patients with a neurological condition will involve facilitated practice of normal movements, postural work to aid sitting and standing balance and gait re-education. Lastly a comprehensive rehabilitation plan is discussed and the patient is left with any exercises that they must practice between sessions.

Rehabilitation with any neurological condition can be very slow and regular physiotherapy is a vital part of maximising physical abilities and quality of life. We understand how important physiotherapy is to our patients with conditions such as MS or those recovering from a stroke and the massive difference it makes to quality of life. This the reason we are dedicated to delivering outstanding neurological physiotherapy.

I hope this blog post has helped some of you understand better the service that we offer, if you would like more information regarding our home visit neurological physiotherapy service throughout Staffordshire and the West Midlands then please get in touch. You can call on 0788 428 1623, email via enquiries@threespiresphysiotherapy.co.uk or use the contact form on the main menu.