[ornumm]

Hi I am new to the SCI world and have started to get SMALL amounts of feeling back. I wake up every day waiting for my bathroom functions or my legs to be working. Everyone says keep working at it, but I don't know what to work at. I am not in any therapy right now so I just keep stretching and wheelin around. What should I be working at?

Any help would be great.

Thanks
Mike

[Hikkakaru]

ornumm, on Sep 14 2009, 07:46 PM, said:

Hi I am new to the SCI world and have started to get SMALL amounts of feeling back. I wake up every day waiting for my bathroom functions or my legs to be working. Everyone says keep working at it, but I don't know what to work at. I am not in any therapy right now so I just keep stretching and wheelin around. What should I be working at?

Any help would be great.

Thanks
Mike

Since so very little information was given, it's hard to give recommendations.

Eat healthy, stay healthy, try to keep yourself as active as possible, and drop any bad habits or lessen them if at all possible (drinking/smoking/etc).

The best people to ask on what you should focus on is GP and if you get back into therapy your physical therapy team.

As a wheelchair bound person, make sure you do range-of-motion exercises with your upper body quite often. It's amazing the range you'll lose very quickly from exclusively wheeling.

-Sam

[Johnny V]

ornumm, on Sep 15 2009, 04:46 AM, said:

Hi I am new to the SCI world and have started to get SMALL amounts of feeling back. I wake up every day waiting for my bathroom functions or my legs to be working. Everyone says keep working at it, but I don't know what to work at. I am not in any therapy right now so I just keep stretching and wheelin around. What should I be working at?

Any help would be great.

Thanks
Mike

Excersise.

Sit at the edge of your chair with both feet on the ground, try and hold yourself up without using your hands as support. (torso, back, stomach muscles)

crawl : Get on your hands and knees, try and move one knee in front of the other. It might start out 1 inch at a time, but if you keep doing it you will be able to crawl like a normal person.. almost.

Sit-ups- Have someone sit at the end of you with with your knees bent. Have them hold your hands to help you with doing sit-ups.

and Stretch. arms, neck, whatever you can pull or move.

[SnoFl]

Mike,

In additional to range of motion exercises, my P.T. has me doing "mental" exercises of physical things I cannot do. I have achieved many things over the past few months I didn't believe were possible. I believe it started with my "mental" exercises. Good luck to you... let us know how you are doing.

This post has been edited by SnoFl: 26 September 2009 - 07:27 AM