NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

Our Specialized Treatments:

A neurological condition affects lives in different ways. At SPT&B, we are specially trained to conduct a thorough assessment of the symptoms and render efficient treatment of our clients’ conditions.

Because our clients often have various neurological impairments that can impact their functional balance, strength, endurance and quality of life, our in-depth assessments are crucial in developing treatments to address specific issues and reach desired goals

What We Do

Our experienced physical therapists have specialized training in the treatment of neurological conditions. We understand the importance of personalized attention and work with our clients one-on-one.

Our therapies include neuromuscular reeducation geared toward facilitating the good and eliminating the bad, both manually as well as through the use of state-of-the-art equipment.

We educate and train our clients as well as their family and caregivers to effectively manage our clients’ debilitating conditions, and always with a TEAM approach to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Neurological Disorders can include:

ALS, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a rapidly progressive neurological disease that causes dysfunction of the nerves that control muscle movement.   It is a fatal condition.  Early symptoms of ALS are typically subtle and may include twitching, cramping, or stiffness of muscles, weakness in an arm or a leg, slurred speech and difficulty chewing or swallowing.

According to the ALS Association, about 6,400 people are diagnosed with the condition every year in the USA, with an estimated 20,000 living with ALS at any given time.

MS is a long-lasting disease where the transmission of nerve impulses is disrupted in the brain and spinal cord.  MS has no known causes but is thought to be an “autoimmune” condition (i.e., when our immune system attacks healthy cells instead of just “sick” cells).

MS can also affect the eye’s optic nerve.  Common symptoms of MS include double vision and eye pain, poor balance and coordination, painful muscle twitching, numbness, tingling and difficulty with basic body functions such as bowel control and even sexual function in both men and women. The effects are often different for everyone who has MS, but women are 2-3 times more likely than men suffer from the disease.

A disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement control and quality. Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease may include tremor in hands, a shuffling walk (“festination”), slowness of movements and reactions (“bradykinesia”) including difficulty initiating a particular movement like taking a step (“apraxia”), increased muscular tone (“rigidity”), many different varieties of abnormal movements (“dyskinesia”), and generally a loss of balance control.

People with Parkinson’s Disease are at substantially higher risk of falling.

A result of damage to peripheral nerves (i.e., nerves that branch from the spinal cord) that commonly affects our hands and feet but can also affect other areas of the body. Symptoms typically include numbness, exaggerated or diminished sensation, odd sensations such as tingling or burning, and/or pain in the fingers, toes, hands and feet.

Peripheral neuropathy is very common in people with certain types of diabetes but are also very common when nerve roots are irritated or compressed in the neck or low back.  “Sciatica” is a very common condition that involves nerve root compression in the lower back involving the Sciatic Nerve, which runs down the back of your hip and leg all the way down to your feet.

The term “stroke” as well as the acronym “CVA” stand for “cerebrovascular accident.”  Strokes affect the arteries leading to and within the brain and can range in severity from fairly mild with temporary effects as in the case of transient ischemic attacks (“TIAs” or “mini-strokes”) to massive and even deadly.

Regardless of the severity, strokes should always be considered an emergency requiring 9-1-1 activation.  Strokes are the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States as we age but can occur at any age.  Strokes occur when blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the brain either rupture or are blocked by a clot, and may cause bleeding in the brain that often times requires surgery to relieve dangerous pressure on the brain.

Strokes can impact any aspect of our being, from the ways we feel and perceive our environment to how we move in terms of both quality and strength, eating and drinking safely, as well as how we control our balance.

Healthy lifestyle choices and certain medicines are often critical to reducing risk of stroke. Early recognition and response (within 3-4 hours of the onset of symptoms) are critical to better outcomes. Today, getting to the Emergency Room ASAP can substantially reduce the impact of certain kinds of acute strokes if a medicine known as Tissue Plasminogen Activator (also known as “tPA”) is administered within a few hours of the onset of stroke symptoms — so don’t wait — get to the ER ASAP!

A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is an injury or series of injuries that result in physical damage to the brain.  A TBI may occur from many forms of trauma including a single, or more commonly, multiple concussions, car accidents and explosions.  Like strokes, the damage of a TBI can cause a wide spectrum of possible health outcomes that relate to the severity of the trauma and the area(s) of the brain involved.

TBI signs and symptoms may sometimes be subtle and might not appear for days, weeks or even years after the injury, and repetitive or cumulative trauma often poses very serious risks to our well-being.  Some patients may look well even though they may feel or behave differently.

Changes in mood, behavior, balance, coordination and strength are commonly seen in TBIs.