Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Balance Exercises: Will Wii Activities Help Your Therapy Population?

The LinkedIn Group: Rehabilitation Medicine, posted a discussion about balance and the post stroke population. The discussion leader is promoting her website , particularly a review which she wrote on an article written by Ruth Ann Geiger, Jeffery B Allen, Joanne O’Keefe, and Ramona R Hicks. Their article, Balance and Mobility following Stroke: Effects of Physical Therapy Interventions With and Without Biofeedback/Forceplate Training explains their project which compared outcomes between two groups of participants who had hemiplegia; group A received physical therapy for 50 minutes 2 to 3 times a week which included 15 minutes of treatment using the NeuroCom Balance Master. Group B received physical therapy for 50 minutes 2 to 3 times a week which included approaches designed to improve balance and mobility. This second group did not participate in exercises using the NeuroCom Balance Master. If you read the article, you will see that both groups showed improvement based on the "Timed Get Up and Go" measure as well as the "Berg Balance Scale." You will also read that this study did not show a significant difference between the groups. Balance improved in both groups. This study did not include a quality of life measure or an satisfaction or enjoyment measure to see which approach was more pleasing to the participants. The specific intervention variable used in the above mentioned article is probably expensive and not available to most therapists working with patients with balance issues. On the other hand, a Nintendo Wii balance board is relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain. Games on Wii Fit Plus can be used to provide visual feedback about weight shifting, center of balance and flexibility. Albeit, Wii is far less sophisticated than the Balance Master, using the Wii in therapy requires less space to set it up and less expertise to use. In some cases, the Wii Balance Board (WBB) has been used with modifications and peripherals in studies aimed at assessing improvement in balance. Effectiveness of a Wii balance board-based system (eBaViR) for balance rehabilitation: a pilot randomized clinical trial in patients with acquired brain injury, and Development of an interactive rehabilitation game using the Nintendo® WiiFit™Balance Board for people with neurological injury are two examples. Lean on Wii: Physical Rehabilitation With Virtual Reality and Wii Peripherals outlines more details about add-ons to the WBB. In some studies the Wii Fit Plus is used without changes. Examples include Wii-habilitation as balance therapy for children with acquired brain injury, Benefits of the Wii Fit as an Exercise Program for Older Adults, and Home-Based Balance Training Programme Using Wii Fit with Balance Board for Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study. Wii balance board activities can be used to help improve balance in many populations.

4 comments:

Physical Therapy Ho-Ho-Kus said...

Great information! Physical therapy is perfect to maintain our body balance. We should do physical activity to make our muscles more strong.

Unknown said...

This kind of therapy looks change and quiet interesting. I will try to get it, just for taking the experience of this therapy.
physical therapist in bergen county

JESSICA said...

As a sign of gratitude for how my husband was saved from stroke , i decided to reach out to those still suffering from this.
My husband was diagnosed of stroke and it was really tough and heartbreaking for me because he was my all and the symptoms were terrible, he had difficult speaking , and he always complain of muscle weakness and balance disorder . we tried various therapies prescribed by our neurologist but none could cure him. I searched for a cure and i saw a testimony by someone who was cured and so many other with similar body problem, and he left the contact of the doctor who had the cure to stroke . I never imagine stroke has a cure not until i contacted him and he assured me my husband will be fine. I got the herbal medication he recommended and my husband used it and in one months he was fully okay even up till this moment he is so full of life. stroke has a cure and it is a herbal cure contact the doctor for more info on drwilliams098675@gmail.com on how to get the medication. Thanks for reading my testimony

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