Best Exercises for Paralysis Patients

Paralysis is a severe medical condition affecting multiple body parts, depending on the type and severity of the condition. Due to paralysis, a person can lose movement or sensory ability as the brain-to-body sync is broken.

Paralysis can be permanent or temporary, along with some other types of paralysis, and the symptoms or effects can vary from patient to patient.

The common types of paralysis include localised, generalised, complete and partial paralysis. The symptoms include numbness in the affected areas, tingling feeling, or sudden muscle weakness.

General paralysis categories include the following:

• Monoplegia affects only one limb.

• Hemiplegia affects one entire side of the body as an aftermath of a stroke or brain damage.

• Diplegia affects the same body parts on both sides, like arms or legs.

• Paraplegia affects the entire body below the waist.

• Tetraplegia affects all four limbs and, in some cases, other body parts.

• Locked-in Syndrome is the most severe kind of paralysis where the patient loses control of all muscle groups and can only perform eye movements.

Many different factors can cause paralysis, and some of the common causes include the following:

• Spina Bifida is a common cause of paralysis.

• People born with birth defects are commonly targeted by paralysis.

• A severe injury causing brain damage.

• A traumatic accident impacting the nervous system.

• Many neurological diseases

• Cerebral palsy

• Numerous autoimmune diseases

Depending on the affected body part, there are separate lists of exercises for each muscle group that can improve the impact and results significantly. Let us look at the top types of paralysis exercises for the legs.

Hip Rotations

The first type of paralysis exercise for the legs is hip rotations. The exercises focussing on hip movement improvement require a therapist or caregiver to help complete them.

For this exercise, you must lie on your back and put your legs straight on the floor in a straight line. Now, the caregiver will help you move the affected leg towards the chest by making a 90-degree angle on the side parallel to the floor.

The main aspect of this exercise is to allow slow movements towards and away from the chest to ease pressure on the affected hip area while stimulating the muscles to initiate movement and sensory feeling slowly.

Toe Rotations

This exercise for paralysis targets the toe region. Lie on the floor and extend your legs forward to perform this exercise.

Now, the therapist will raise one of your legs above the floor and create a grip at the bottom of your toe before slowly moving the toe inward and outward.

Some other variations include rotating the toe in a circular motion with less pressure.

Ankle Rotations

A popular ankle rotation exercise is easy to perform and helps reduce movement limitations slowly. To perform this exercise, you can lie down or sit on the floor or bed, as per comfort.

Then, a therapist will help you complete this exercise by slowly picking each leg at a time and rotating the ankle in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions to stimulate the muscles.

You must do this 10-12 times per foot daily for best results.

Full Leg Exercises

For this exercise, you must lie down straight and stretch your legs on the floor to maintain a straight position. Then, a therapist will raise one of your legs above the ground and gently fold it inward and outward slowly before switching to the other leg.

Both legs undergo this exercise, and it should be done as often as possible as per comfort to initiate muscle stimulation and relaxation.

Multiple paralysis exercises are available, focussing on improving the hand movement. The hand is one of the common targets for paralysis, but with regular participation in paralysis exercises for the hand, visible change can be noticed. Some of the exercises include:

Wrist Stretches

For hand movement, performing specific exercises targeting different parts of the hand is necessary. One of these exercises is wrist stretches.

To do this exercise, the therapist will raise your hand a little above your abdomen, parallel to the floor.

Then, he will hold up your palm and slowly pull backwards and forward by adding pressure to your fingers. You can also perform this exercise yourself, but ensure you do not put too much strain on bending the wrist.

Grip Movements

Grip movements are necessary, and so with the help of different tools like clincher, therapy ball, etc., you can easily practise slow movements daily to introduce motion back into the hands.

Finger Movements

You can use finger bands or resistance bands for fingers to improve finger paralysis. For this, you must place a band around 2 or 3 fingers and then push against the band to encourage pressure in your fingers. This will help improve muscle stimulation in the fingers as they will act against resistance bands.

If you are looking for the best exercise for paralysis for the face, you must be aware of the different types of face exercises that target different face muscles for complete improvement. The list of exercises includes:

Eye Rotations and Stretches

This is a very useful exercise for face paralysis. All you need to do is keep your face straight, rotate your eyes in different directions, and hold them in place for a few seconds before shifting.

For example, move your eyes up and down slowly without moving your head.

Mouth Pulls

Performing mouth pulls and stretches is highly beneficial for regaining tongue and lip control. There are different kinds of exercises for this. One exercise requires you to smile as big and wide as comfortable and maintain that for a few seconds.

Another exercise is making a “pout” with your lips and staying that way for 10 seconds before relaxing the mouth.

**Eyebrow Extensions **

Facial paralysis is a common condition but can be resolved slowly if individual parts of the face are exercised regularly. Eyebrow extensions are relatively easier to perform and help with muscle stimulation.

To do this exercise, you must raise your eyebrows and hold them in position for at least 20 seconds before relaxing your facial muscles. You can also do this in front of a mirror while using your hands to keep the position in check.

The path to recovery from paralysis is slow. However, with the right supervision and targeted exercises for paralysis patients based on the condition, patients can slowly adjust to the changing movement limitation and recover better.

Other than physical exercises or yoga for paralysis, many other therapies and medicinal solutions help improve the condition. A health insurance plan can be highly beneficial to gain financial support in times of urgency for medical treatments or doctor visits for paralysed patients.

With the right medical insurance, patients can get a safety net to distribute the financial burden of treatments and therapy sessions.

You can choose a customised health insurance plan from Tata AIG that offers numerous options to make it easy for you and your loved ones to purchase the one you need for a better tomorrow.

We also have a network of over 10,000 hospitals that allow the benefit of cashless health insurance, making it a smooth treatment experience for you. So, invest in the right health insurance, as your healthy life is our priority.

Can my paralysis be cured fully?

Depending on the type of paralysis, the impact of treatment can be defined. For permanent paralysis, there is no conclusive cure to eliminate it fully. However, for other partial paralysis cases, slow recovery and increased motor control can be possible with continuous efforts.

How much time does it take to recover from paralysis with regular paralysis recovery exercises?

The time taken to recover from paralysis depends on different factors like the severity of the attack, level of damage to the motor control function, etc. However, in many cases, significant recovery with regular paralysis exercise can take up to 6-12 months.

Do I need supervision for performing a paralysis exercise?

The need for supervision to perform any paralysis exercise depends on a list of factors, including the level of paralysis, age, health conditions, and other specifications. However, in most cases, a caregiver must be present to support the patient during paralysis exercises for better recovery.