[Apparelyzed]

Wheelchairs May Hinder Recovery

Wheelchairs might be hindering the recovery of people with spinal cord injuries, research suggests.

Scientists came to the conclusion after studying injured rats strapped to tiny "wheelchairs" that restricted their movement.

They recovered less limb function and co-ordination than animals left to fend for themselves, New Scientist magazine reported.

More: http://ukpress.googl...sSXyLESjhNL1fZw

[nomis]

Now this could get interesting - imagine masses of cripples dragging themselves about. It'll start a whole new industry in clothing. And will spinal injury crawlers be accused of looking up women's dresses...and did they? Fascinating.

[Webwych]

And comparing us to a completely different species with four legs, and a tail to co-ordinate is going to give scientists reliable data on human SCI recovery....how?

And what's their definition of recovery? Wheels may not be ideal but they are certainly going to get you back into the swing of things quicker.

This post has been edited by Webwych: 31 July 2008 - 03:42 PM

[Quad65]

nomis: My thoughts exactly. Can you imagine a groundbreaking treatment where we now throw gimps on the floor and let them writhe around to speed recovery? I wish they would have done that for me. I would be so much farther along.

[KimAndSophie]

Apparelyzed, on Jul 31 2008, 05:26 AM, said:

Wheelchairs May Hinder Recovery

Wheelchairs might be hindering the recovery of people with spinal cord injuries, research suggests.

Scientists came to the conclusion after studying injured rats strapped to tiny "wheelchairs" that restricted their movement.

They recovered less limb function and co-ordination than animals left to fend for themselves, New Scientist magazine reported.

Dr David Magnuson, of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville, US, said: "Our data suggests that wheelchair restriction definitely impairs functional recovery in rats, and logically it would seem to apply also to humans."

Lab animals tend to recover from spinal cord damage much more quickly than humans. Dr Magnuson wondered if this was partly because their movements are less restricted during recovery so that, for instance, they can drag themselves around using their undamaged limbs.

His team created the rat-sized wheelchairs by attaching four wheels to small plastic platforms. Half of a group of about 20 rats with moderate spine injuries were put into the "wheelchairs", which prevented them from using their hind legs, for eight weeks. The other rats were allowed to move around freely.

After another eight weeks during which all the animals were allowed free movement, their walking and swimming was assessed using standards tests.

Rats given wheelchairs recovered significantly less function than those given more opportunity to move.
Dr Magnuson said: "Most people when they first see the rat wheelchair, their first response is the chuckle, because it does look comical, but then they realise we are trying to address some pretty important questions."

Mark Bacon, from the UK charity Spinal Research, said: "This study indicates the importance of providing the appropriate feedback to the damaged cord to get the best functional outcome. It remains to be seen what rehabilitation regime will be most appropriate for humans."

http://ukpress.googl...sSXyLESjhNL1fZw

How many more people are going to look at us as "just not trying hard enough" after they read this. First of all we are not rats, and it's a totally different spieces. How many were complete vs. incomplete injuries? Were they all incomplete injuries?

It seems as though half of the rats were straped into their wheelchairs the whole time! How many of us have been strapped into our wheelchairs for the first 8 weeks after being injured and left there with no time out of them and no physio etc!?

How can this even compare? He said "logically it would seem to apply to humans". What kind of "scientist" does an "experiment" that is nothing like the real situation (having physio., getting out of our wheelchairs, excercising, trying to move and regain as much function as we can etc.) that in the end is not helping at all because it has nothing to do with the reality of things. If you took able bodied people and did the same to them they are going to be too stiff to even function also after being strapped into the same position for 8 weeks.

It really gets to me when "studies" like this are done without taking the real world into account. In the end the only thing that happens is people who have no or little knowledge about spinal cord injuries or wheelchair users just look at you and think things like "if you just got out of that wheelchair and tried harder you'd be walking", because they read some study somewhere.

Sorry, my rants over now.

I also wanted to add one more thing. What exactly did they call "recovery". Was it when the rats could move their hind legs a bit and do sort of a hop? A lot of people who have incomplete injuries can move their legs around a bit, but still use wheelcahirs because they can move around faster and more effectivly and have a better lifde than they would if they tried using braces and crutches (or of course pulled themselves accross the ground).

I bet some of these people could move their legs a bit when laying on their stomachs and maybe even help move their bodies a little with their legs, but would this be the best thing for them?

Ok, NOW my rant is over....

This post has been edited by KimAndSophie: 31 July 2008 - 07:16 PM

[Tinbasher]

I hope the NHS wheelchair service dont read this!

[Webwych]

Tinbasher, on Jul 31 2008, 08:46 PM, said:

I hope the NHS wheelchair service dont read this!

Oh man, don't even joke about that....

[1heart4u]

This is not new news! I believe, that the standing frames are suggested to help bones. I believe FES bikes are recommended for exercise. Just because we use a wheelchair for transporting our useless limbs, doesn't mean we are confined to it. And I certainly don't think dragging our legs would provide any benefit or recovery. But hey sounds like they are having fun with the rats.
I just hope that the research with rats would cross the bridge to more and more research with human specimens. MIght learn more? about humans I mean.
1heart4u

[Hapahowlee]

nomis, on Jul 31 2008, 05:36 AM, said:

Now this could get interesting - imagine masses of cripples dragging themselves about. It'll start a whole new industry in clothing. And will spinal injury crawlers be accused of looking up women's dresses...and did they? Fascinating.

Nomis, I have a strange feeling you might try this just to sneak a few peaks You already are at a vantage point when you see a woman who is wearing a short skirt and sitting down. I came across quite a few pictures of family holiday gatherings and I can tell when my husband took the photo b/c you can see straight up my skirt

Bounce if you are reading this, these are not the pics I plan to post of myself.

I don't think it would be a good idea to crawl around like the lab rats, but I do believe getting out of your chair any chance you can is good for the mind. I often remind my husband that he doesn't have to sit in his chair all day. Of course he needs it to get around, but if we are just watching TV, I'll help him on our sectional sofa and put him on the end with the recliner and this helps give him a good stretch and makes it easier for me to massage him. He also stands up with his standing table, which does help with circulation and bones and he uses the stationary bike. When we get into the pool, I put his wheelchair out of site so he doesn't even have to look at it and sometimes I help him walk in the pool and other times, he just lounges to relax. All of these things makes him feel better and less disabled not only from the TLC from me, but from not having to be stuck in a wheelchair the entire time he is awake.