After any type of injury or surgery there can be a certain amount of muscle wastage (atrophy). This can be caused by many factors including being immobile for a period of time, as a result of infection, trauma, disease or disorder. Where possible it is important to build up and strengthen these muscles as it will help to speed up the recovery process and in turn increase range of motion.

Following injury or trauma muscles can become inhibited and weaken. Reactivating these muscles can be challenging and often needs focused re-education to achieve.

Foot drop is an inability or difficulty in moving the ankle and toes upward (dorsiflexion). In walking, the leg must be lifted higher than usual to prevent the foot from dragging along the ground. Foot drop is usually caused by nerve damage, but may also be caused by muscle damage, abnormal anatomy, or a combination. Foot drop is caused by diseases that damage the long nerves. The deep fibular/peroneal nerve innervates the front (anterior) compartment of the leg. Damage to this nerve will lead to the inability for the leg to dorsiflex the foot, therefore causing foot drop. The result is an abnormal gait.

Muscle strengthening is an essential part of the recovery process and can be completed pre or post surgery. It is necessary where atrophy has occurred, commonly after an injury or surgery. Strengthening the muscles aids in restoring normal muscle function and will help return full range of motion and prevent further wastage.

A person with a neurological disease has a disorder that affects nerves in the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves. Neurological disease may affect the nerve cells or the axons that transmit nerve impulses from nerve cell to nerve cell. Causes of neurological disease include infection, inflammation, injury, tumor, an inherited illness. Symptoms of a neurological disease depend on the underlying cause. Symptoms may include muscle weakness, paralysis, numbness and tingling, facial drooping, slurred speech, double vision, difficulty swallowing, inability to walk, vertigo, confusion, seizures, or unresponsiveness.

Most fractured (broken) bones will heal in usually six weeks but when you have enough stress placed through your body to fracture a bone there's usually a lot of other soft tissues and structures that have been damaged in the process. You also must consider being immobilised in plaster as there will be post-immobilisation stiffness and considerable weakness. This may even affect joints that don't seem related to the break. For example, a fractured shoulder may result in a very stiff elbow or wrist just because you were keeping your shoulder in a sling for a few weeks.

Early post-operative strengthening can lead to a faster recovery. Strong muscles provide vital support to the surrounding joints enabling them to become more stable thus allowing for better mobility.

Muscles can be weakened before surgery as a direct result of the injury and reduced mobility. Strengthening these muscles pre surgery can aid post operative recovery significantly.

Sports rehabilitation* is a multi-disciplinary approach to treat injuries sustained through sports participation so the athlete can regain normal pain-free mobility. The primary goal is to return to pre-injury activities, whether the athlete is a professional, amateur or casual player.

The most common injuries treated are sprains and strains. A sprain is an injury to the ligaments caused by overstretching or tearing. A strain, on the other hand, is an injury or tear to the muscle itself. Other conditions that can be treated through a sports rehabilitation program are fractures, arthritis issues, joint replacements and generalised pain issues.

Sports rehabilitation begins with the treatment of the acute injuries. It then follows the athlete through every step of recovery. From pain relief to optimizing muscle length to returning to pre-injury performance to injury prevention, sports rehabilitation is comprehensive rehab program that focuses on every facet of pain-free, effective, sports-specific motion.

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Sports rehabilitation is a multi-disciplinary approach to treat injuries sustained through sports participation so the athlete can regain normal pain-free mobility.

In cases where an injury has been incurred and an athlete must accelerate strengthening or off-set muscle atrophy, EMS can play an important role. This is very common when a joint injury occurs, the limb cannot be used and muscles are not being worked normally. A foot or ankle injury is a perfect example of this application. The MediStim XP unit can be used to work quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves when the athlete cannot properly walk or run for the initial stages of rehabilitation. For the athlete that sprains their ankle or knee in the latter stages of their training cycle, EMS can help to maintain muscle strength until you are ready to resume conventional training. The primary goal is to return to pre-injury activities.

Sometimes conditions or specific injuries can cause muscle imbalance. Put simply, muscle imbalance occurs when one muscle, or group of muscles, works harder than it should while other muscles don’t work hard enough. It may not sound serious, but it can cause a wide range of problems, including poor shoulders function, hip and knee pain and even poor posture. In these instances muscles often need to be retrained with overactive muscle being detoned and weak muscles being strengthened.

Paralysis is a medical condition characterised by the inability to move one or more muscles. In most cases, a person experiencing paralysis also loses all feeling in the affected area. Paralysis may be temporary, depending on the cause. If it is the result of damage to the nervous system, it is usually consistent. There are many potential causes of paralysis. Two of the most common causes of paralysis are stroke and trauma, particularly to the nervous system or the brain.

Wrist and Hand Therapy is a type of rehabilitation performed on patients with conditions affecting the hands, wrists and upper extremities. Patients who are candidates for hand therapy may have been affected by an accident or trauma leaving them with wounds, scars, burns, injured tendons or nerves, fractures, or even amputations of the fingers, hands, or arms. Others include patients who suffer from the effects of conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow, as well as from such chronic problems as arthritis or a neurologic condition (i.e., stroke).

A person with wrist drop is unable to extend, or raise the hand at the wrist. Wrist drop is caused by damage to the radial nerve, which stimulates the muscles in the forearm to extend the wrist. The radial nerve may be damaged by a direct injury to the nerve, or by injuries to the structures around the nerve, which place pressure on the nerve. Symptoms of wrist drop include wrist weakness, resulting in the inability to raise the hand at the wrist. Additional symptoms may include wrist pain, wrist tenderness, or wrist swelling, wrist deformity, hand numbness (unilateral), and hand weakness (unilateral).