Virtually Successful Conference
Amy Bean
Monday, January 31st, 2022
Saebo UK have been lucky enough to be part of the Virtually Successful Conference that took place last week, and we wanted to round up some of the highlights from this inaugural online conference on all things “TeleHealth”.
The Virtually Successful Conference was organised by the team behind the Remote Rehab online community. The Remote Rehab
Funding Sources
Amy Bean
Wednesday, May 12th, 2021
We often get asked for advice on how to source funding, if self funding isn’t an option. We also support NHS teams putting together business cases for equipment, either for their team to use, or for individuals. We therefore have put together this resource for funding options and support.
Stroke: How much practice should I do?
Amy Bean
Thursday, December 10th, 2020
A commonly asked question by stroke survivors is how much should I practice?, or how many times do I need to practice a movement or task every day.
Lang et al in 2009 states that practice is essential to motor learning following stroke and large doses of practice i.e. 100’s of daily repetitions for the arm and 1000’s for stepping, are required to produce lasting changes and learning.
The brain has a remarkable ability to reorganise itself after a neurological injury, by forming new connections when stimulated, challenged and exposed to new experiences and input. This ability to adapt is often referred to as Cortical Plasticity or Neuroplasticity interchangeably. For these changes to occur in the brain, such that the detrimental effects of the injury to the brain are altered, studies suggest 400-600 repetitions for movements of the arm. (Kleim 1998, Nudo 1996) .
Electrodes : Placement and Preparation
Amy Bean
Sunday, November 1st, 2020
This month’s Blog post will give you some handy tips and advice with using the electrodes for your electrical stimulation device. Our SaeboStim Pro is used in the electrode placement tutorial videos at the bottom of this page, but the principles apply to any electrical stimulation device.
Do check back on this blog as the video library will be added to over time. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up to date with our latest videos
Expanding CIMT (Constraint Induced Movement Therapy)
Amy Bean
Wednesday, September 16th, 2020
Expanding “CIMT” for those with little movement of the hand
Guest blog written by Karen Leslie, Senior Neurological Physiotherapist at physio.co.uk
Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (“CIMT”) is an intensive course of rehabilitation for the arm and hand that is effective at
improving the use of a weaker side following stroke. The programme is suitable for people with some movement present at the wrist and fingers, enough to crudely grasp a rag and let it go. Hand function is required because the therapy involves wearing a restrictive mitt on the unaffected hand for 90% of waking hours. If there is no ability to use the hand then this would completely disable the person and be of no benefit at all.
But what about people who cannot open their hands? Over the last few years researchers have been investigating whether “expanded CIMT” or “eCIMT” would be suitable for patients whose hands do not have enough movement to qualify for a CIMT programme.
An eCIMT programme involves the same intensity of treatment but without a constraint mitt. The principles of CIMT remain the same, looking at real-world use of the arm and practising specific tasks in an intensive repetitive manner, but the therapy sessions may use adjuncts such as orthotics or electrical stimulation to help position the hand to achieve a greater variety of tasks, and hands-on therapy to help manage muscle tone and body positioning. The primary outcome of any programme should be an increase in how much the person can use their arm in everyday life.
Spinal Cord Injury Case Study with the SaeboMAS and SaeboGlove
Amy Bean
Monday, August 24th, 2020
Anna Wilkinson
In this case study, written by Anna Wilkinson Physiotherapist and Managing Director of More Rehab, we describe the integration of the SaeboMAS and SaeboGlove in the rehabilitation journey of a 68 year old gentleman following a Spinal Cord Injury.
This gentleman was only able to use his upper limb in activities or exercises with hands on assistance from therapists or his care team. He was getting increasingly frustrated about the lack of chance to practice using his upper limbs and also the dependence of having someone else to physically assist him with every repetition.
Stroke : What care should I be receiving?
Amy Bean
Wednesday, August 5th, 2020
If you, or a relative/friend, has had a Stroke, what care and rehabilitation should you be receiving in the UK?
Every 4 years the Royal College of Physicians publishes their National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Care in the UK. The last one to be published was 2016. These Guidelines cover every aspect of management along the Stroke pathway. Although a lengthy document, it is sectioned per topic so you can scroll to what is relevant to you.
The Stroke Association has also published a user friendly version of these Guidelines for stroke patients and their carers which you can read here .
Some quick view summary points are:
Online Therapy Resources
Amy Bean
Wednesday, July 1st, 2020
With routine Face to Face therapy still not possible for most people because of COVID 19, there is a growing online resource of apps, YouTube exercise channels, and websites offering advice available to utilise for home therapy.
Whilst there are many therapists, both private and NHS, now utilising video services to provide assessments, therapy and advice there are now more opportunities available to supplement this by using these many online therapy resources.
We thought it would be helpful to provide a link to the most commonly used ones in one place. If you have found others not listed below that have been particularly helpful we would love to hear what these are and we can then add them. The majority of the apps below are free to download so well worth trying them out to see which is the most beneficial for you.
Demystifying Electrical Stimulation
Amy Bean
Friday, May 1st, 2020
In this months blog our aim is to give an overview of electrical stimulation in its simplest terms. Sometimes this commonly used intervention can seem a bit daunting to both therapists and users who at not familiar with it. The variety of terminology, wide range of devices and debate on when and how to use it all helps add to the confusion and needless complexity.
In the most simplest terms, electrical stimulation is the sending of an electrical impulse from a device, usually via surface electrodes stuck to the skin, to a nerve. These electrical impulses can be used to generate muscle contractions, modulate nerves to reduce pain or provide a low level sensory stimulation.
Self Management after a Neurological Injury
Amy Bean
Wednesday, April 1st, 2020
Self Management after a stroke, head injury or other neurological injury can be interpreted differently depending on whether you are the person who has suffered the injury, therapist or family member/carer. In this piece we try to explain what the principles are, how it should be done and what the evidence is behind it…
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