Physical Therapy and Physiotherapy
Physical therapy and physiotherapy help restore movement and function to people disabled by disease or injury.
There are a few different types of PT which are used to help recover from a brain injury: Vestibular Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Orthopedic Physical Therapy and Exertion Therapy
Patient reviews
I had (and still have) a lot of issues with my eyes following the accident. I began physical therapy in January, and we did a lot of work with my eyes. Mainly trying to address convergence issues as well as nystagmus and my eyes not tracking together. Jared was great, but I struggled with this therapy, taking it very slow as I would very quickly find myself getting dizzy and nauseous. After about a month, I had to returned to work, and I stopped going per the recommendation of the PT, as it was too physically and emotionally draining for me.
Sarah Verlinde / Athletico, Bedford, MI
I did Physical therapy at CORC to learn to walk and balance again.
Kelsie Igasan / CORC
Their was a PT named Retu that stood out the most! She was able to be most effective with my headaches. She is known for treating head injuries and the C-spine area ( mainly C5 and C6) she was very helpful!!! Her office is located in Edison, NJ and it is called Opt-2-Heal.
Jessica Brooks / Retu in Edison NJ
Trying to recover without a physiotherapist, is like skating without blades. It might work but it’s just stupid and slow. A physiotherapist with a lot of experience knows what has worked in the past and what might work for you. In my case, my physiotherapist became my sounding board for my workout regime. Since I’m a sports addict, I wanted to get back on the bike asap. We waited until the most severe symptoms were gone, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and what not. Basically, as soon as I thought I could do it, we kicked off! I keep hearing more and more evidence of how a so-called cocoon recovery (doing nothing) is counterproductive. Therefore, as soon as you can do something, do it. However, don’t get your hopes up. It’s HIGHLY unlikely your first session will be a marathon. My first set was 10min heart rate 120bpm. And every other day. I felt sick like a dog after it. But it felt amazing to finally be doing something.
In my case, I’m fighting something called neurological tonus. If you’ve ever done a hard training session and then laid on the couch for a few days, you’ve experienced DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). That feeling of I can’t move I’m so sore. This is the best way I can explain neurological tonus. Now, you can get rid of DOMS by doing recovery stuff, stretching or low-intensity workouts. I tried to stretch for 4 months and I didn’t get rid of my neurological tonus. And you won’t either. Because it doesn’t work that way. The way to get rid of it is to lay down on a massage table and let your physiotherapist do her/his magic. They start by pushing on the soles of your feet, to push your joints closer together. Then, starting at your heels, the therapist squeezes your legs as hard as they can (or that is how it feels) while you exhale. This sends the missing signal to the central nervous system that relaxes the muscles. It hurts like hell, but oh dear God it feels good. Now, don’t quote me directly on this. There are probably a lot of other steps involved. I’m just too far in the hurt locker to realize them. Matti Vartiainen is the go-to dude in Helsinki. And Heli-Marja Oksanen in Turku.
I saw Dan Boss at Abbyphysio and Jeremy Bensler at Promotion: both were able to relax built up tension in me where my nervous system would make me sweat lots and have completely stopped. Also lots of different techniques from magnets and head massages to free up movement. From all the training I'm still far from healed but without this treatment I would be in a bad state Im sure of it. I have returned to work and starting to somewhat feel normal at times.
Daryl Sandford / Dan Boss at Abbyphysio and Jeremy Bensler at Promotion
During my time in PT, these are the things that really helped my recovery: Yellow tinted glasses with PT: it is hard to explain exactly what these glasses are but they are like everyday glasses that have a slight yellow tint that dims the lights, not as exaggerated as sunglasses though. These glasses I wore 24/7 and by far the best treatment. It helped headaches go by faster ( headaches where in my eyes and frontal lobe where most of the impact was). Neck massages with PT: these were great with releasing tension in my neck from whip lash. It was from my traps up to the splenius capitis. She used plastic tools that I can't remember the name but I called them scrappers and that was a great method with whip lash. Bouncing on a ball and reading with PT: I don't know the exact name of it but it was later in the recovery stages. This was working on doing two things at once. It was a good way of just getting things rolling again. Simple soccer drills with PT: this was at the very end of my recovery journey. I did latter's and she would through a ball to me and I would throw it back while working on latter's to work on two things at once. This was working on my ability to stimulating the brain and making it work a little harder.
Dani/ Jill Olson from Missoula, Montana
Worked wonders an getting our son back physically. In two months, my son went from us being told he may never come out of a coma or have any real function to WALKING out of the hospital on his own. He looks forward to being able to play the sports he loves so much again in the near future
Tami Millett on son Beau Millett/Lisa at PCH Utah
I started in May of 2008. I did physical therapy here on & off for 5 years. I started running here. This was my favorite place to go. They took me in every single day at first & helped me both emotionally & physically!
Beth Choi/Kinetic PT in Ramsey, NJ
I was here for 2 weeks. I received speech, occupational, physical, & psychological therapy everyday. I got stronger each day & this facility was amazing.
Beth Choi/Bryn Mawr Inpatient Rehab
Adina helped me to hold my head up again. They were not experienced enough for my injury and gave me an unrealistic timeline for healing.
Colette Brown/Excel Physiotherapy in Port Moody, BC
Virginia Fenzl had good experience and helped tremendously with assessment for balance and posture post ABI. She also helped with techniques for muscle release.
Colette Brown/Pitt Meadows Physiotherapy in Pitt Meadows, BC