Skeletal muscle denervation is caused by damage or injury to the nerves that supply a muscle. This can occur as a result of a number of different conditions, including trauma to the spine or a peripheral nerve. Denervation can also result from infection, inflammation, and certain medical procedures. In some cases, denervated skeletal muscle may be caused by diseases that affect the nerves, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Guillain-Barré syndrome. Denervation can also occur as a complication of surgery, such as when a nerve is accidentally damaged during an operation.

Muscles can recover from denervation, despite the loss of nerve supply to a muscle. Sometimes this recovery happens with little intervention necessary. At Anatomical Concepts we are typically working with individuals where some intervention is indicated.

FES Cycling with the RehaMove system is a foundation in Claire’s routine. In this short video she describes how she discovered FES Cycling, why she felt it was important to continue to exercise the parts that were paralysed as well as the parts that weren’t, and the benefits she has seen from doing so.

In the first article in this series, we introduced the idea of using electrotherapy for wound healing. It’s perhaps not the first approach clinicians think of but we feel it is a legitimate approach and worth considering; especially when other approaches are not proving to be effective. In this article we look at what is known and unknown about this approach. We then look at spinal cord injury and treatment of pressure ulcers in this population. We give an example fo using a Hasomed RehaMove unit with Sequence Mode and a RISE unit to support this application.

We have always wanted our FES Cycling clients to be comfortable to make changes to their stimulation settings over time. Knowing when and how to changing settings is not difficult - when you know how. The video below was recorded to address that topic. The
video has English subtitles and a transcripy of the audio is given below.

Electrotherapy might seem an unlikely approach to use in healing pressure ulcers or chronic wounds of all types. However, it’s long been recognised that humans are “bioelectric” and there is such a thing as a “skin battery” that can be disrupted by wounds. In this short series we look at what we know of wound healing with electrotherapy. In this first article we introduce the topic and set the scene for the second article which looks at protocols and contraindications.

FES Cycling is an evidence-based way of exercising for those with limb paralysis due to a spinal cord injury or other neurological condition. In this article we look at how this works.