Recovery from paralysis takes time, patience, and consistency. The goal of exercises is to improve movement, strength, balance, and independence. I always tell my patients to start slow. Listen to your body. If movements gets worse, stop and see a doctor. These exercises help most people feel better and regain movement in a few weeks. Let us dive in
Why paralysis happens?
Paralysis occurs when nervous system problem arises primarily due to brain haemorrhage or reduction in blood flow to brain that eventually causes paralysis. Nerves send signals to your muscles. Those signals make your muscles move. When you’re paralyzed, or have paralysis, you can’t move certain parts of your body
Paralysis can also be broken down into two types based on the site of injury in your nervous system:
Flaccid: Your muscles get weak and very loose.
Spastic: Your muscles tighten, with involuntary jerks and spasms (spasticity).
How common is paralysis? Types of Paralysis? Will the patient ever be able to walk by themselves? Questions and Questions. We got you !
Paralysis is common these days due to changes in lifestyle and eating habits predominantly fat rich food and lack of exercise and affects anyone over the age of 45 (Both men and women are at equal risk). Generalized paralysis affects a larger area. Healthcare providers categorize generalized paralysis based on the extent of paralysis. The different types of paralysis include:
Diplegia: Paralysis occurs on the same area on both sides of your body. For example, paralysis affects both arms, both legs or both sides of your face.
Hemiplegia: Paralysis affects one side of your body (an arm and a leg on the same side).
Monoplegia: You can’t move one limb (arm or leg).
Paraplegia: Paralysis affects both legs and sometimes your torso.
Quadriplegia (tetraplegia): Paralysis involves all limbs and the torso. People with quadriplegia may have little or no movement from the neck down as seen in GBS, ALS, Miller-Fischer Syndrome
Exercises to help regain and restore movements include:
- Passive Range of Motion (ROM) Exercises
(For patients who cannot move on their own)
A caregiver gently moves the patient’s limbs.
Examples:
Shoulder lifting (up-down)
Elbow bending
Wrist rotation
Finger opening & closing
Knee bending
Ankle movement (up-down)
👉 Why is it important?
Prevents stiffness
Improves blood circulation
Reduces risk of contractures
- Active-Assisted Exercises
(Patient tries to move with some help)
Examples:
Holding the affected hand with the good hand and lifting it
Assisted leg raises
Assisted sitting movements
👉 Helps in retraining the brain-muscle connection
- Bed Mobility Exercises
These help patients become more independent.
Exercises:
Rolling side to side
Bridging (lifting hips slightly)
Moving from lying to sitting
👉 Improves core strength & daily function
- Sitting Balance Training
Start once the patient can sit with support.
Exercises:
Sitting without support for few seconds
Reaching forward/sideways
Weight shifting
👉 Helps prevent falls and improves posture
- Strengthening Exercises
(For recovering muscles)
Examples:
Static muscle contraction (tighten muscles without moving)
Leg extensions while sitting
Arm raises (with or without support)
👉 Builds muscle strength gradually
- Standing Training (If Safe)
Only with support (walker/caregiver)
Exercises:
Standing with support maybe on a walker, on a standing frame, safety harness
Weight shifting in standing
Mini squats (if possible)
👉 Improves confidence and prepares for walking
- Walking Practice
(Advanced stage)
Use walker or parallel support
Start with short distances, take longer strides to initiate a good rhythmic cycle of lower body with ankle lifts
Focus on correct posture
👉 Enhances independence
- Hand & Finger Exercises
Very important for daily activities
Exercises:
Squeezing a soft ball
Finger tapping, flexi bar twists
Picking small objects
👉 Improves grip and coordination
- Breathing Exercises
Often ignored but essential
Examples:
Deep breathing
Balloon blowing
Incentive spirometry (if available)
👉 Prevents lung complications
We at Rehab Station pro-actively start with the entire rehab journey and plan goals month wise and stage wise to get certain things aligned viz. Free movements in bed, Immediate standing to promote weight bearing which in turn provides room for reaching tasks and also triggering balance centres in the brain, ear and joints collectively. Our specialized machines from the USA help achieve goals at a faster rate like Wireless Professional NMES/FES stimulator to help with muscle firing and correcting wrong movement patterns. The placement and correct dose helps the patient to do workout in a fatigue free zone and yet gets the work done.
Talking about strength the next in line comes BALANCE, and how can we forget the fact that to label someone as independent we need to work on Balance which is trained for by our very own HUBER 360 ( a revolutionary device in the field of Balance and Vestibular Rehab) providing 8 directional pertubation platform to simulate a natural reaction response to falls helping us with diagnostics as well as treatment guide to your fear of fall.
For more details kindly get in touch with our team and we’ll do the needful.