Head injury

Someone who has incurred a head injury, depending on the severity of the injury, can suffer from a range of physical problems. These can include:

• tight muscles and/or muscle weakness
• problems with awareness of sensations
• joint stiffness
• difficulties with awareness of their body in space
• a limited range of movement
• problems with getting positioned adequately, eg. with sitting in a wheelchair or lying on a bed
• balance problems
• difficulties with walking, reaching forwards or getting up/sitting down.

As neurological physiotherapists, our role is both to help our patients make improvements and to reduce the impact of these problems on their lives.

Our treatment is tailored to meet the specific needs of individual patients. It can include:

• work on improving joint alignment
• stretches to increase muscle length as shortened muscles can lead to tension and movement problems
• help to facilitate movement
• work on muscle strengthening
• balance re-education, providing a series of exercises to help patients improve their balance
• work on improving functional ability eg. transfers
• gait re-education, to help make walking as efficient as possible
• sensory stimulation, to help patients with lack of sensation in any part of their body.

The success of treatment depends on many factors, including the severity of the injury, how much time has passed since the injury, what associated problems there are and how much people can do in between therapy sessions to build on the skills they learn.

Our goals for patients include:

• an improved feeling of well-being as the patient becomes able to move better
• a feeling of progress, which in turn can lead to increased overall motivation
• an improved ability to transfer from a wheelchair (if applicable)
• better balance and walking ability
• reduced muscle tension
• an increased feeling of independence as patients become able to do more things for themselves.

Normally we recommend that patients initially come in for an intensive burst of weekly treatment, which can last for up to three months, although sometimes a longer period is needed.

Then we may suggest that they continue by working with a personal trainer in a gym.

We find that they can also benefit by coming back to heads up! for monitoring every few months so that we can find out how they are doing and make recommendations for further progress.

To dicuss how we may be able to help you or one of your family members, please contact Sally Watt, our Practice Manager, on (01306) 888171.

We see patients from all over the South-East (and sometimes further afield) at our practice outside Dorking in Surrey , which is close to the M25, and at the clinics we hold in Kingston, Roehampton and Sevenoaks.

To be emailed a free copy of our patient prospectus, please click here.

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