United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi there,
I've got a quick question. Regarding my BPI, I have had a nerve conduction study done which shows electrical signal going to/from my injured nerves which until then had no signal at all. My neurosurgeon who performed exploratory surgery on me in August last year told me in a consultation shortly after that I needed intense physio. I have re-started physio again which I basically just try to push a pillow against the wall and try to push away with my injured arm. I also do some dips and do shoulder "pull downs" with weights with " with an exercise machine.

I also do some little weight lifting which is basically working on my wrist which I injured in my accident in march 2006 (which healed up quickly in a few months - fractured wrist). Anyway, I was wondering if I should be doing more or not, just in 'educated guesses' by people? I just feel this might not be enough as I do 2 sessions a week of 1 hour physio which to me isn't "intense physio" neither in actual work or length?

Any thing said is appreciated, thank you I just wanted to see if I could mention anything 'concrete' to my physio in case it helps or whatever.

Wazza,
Not sure of what your injuries or limitations are. But with Dustin he did formal therapy 2x per week for an hour. Then did the same work out every day at home. The last time we were to Mayo they told him to exhaust the bicep 2x per day to build it faster. And get water therapy every day. I took him to Paula Galavez who works primarily with BP injuries. But, the therapist here was doing most of the exercises she had said, it was good to be sure though. He does several exercises working in the specific muscles that are weakest.
Sue

You want to be working that arm as much as possible, whenever possible. Even as you sit and watch tv, you should think about sending signals down your arm

If you have slight nerve impulses, then you keep sending more impulses to strengthen the signal. In conjuction, work the arms so that the signals may be transferred from the nerves to the muscles. The muscles also must be restrengthened. So, by stimulating as much controlled movements and exercises as you can, you are working to strengthen 2 systems (nervous and musclulo).

As for as "intense PT", well, work the arm hard every day, at least once. When you hit exhaustion (and it shouldn't take too too long), you must let it rest and fully recover. So eat healthy as well. Once the muscles have replenished their fuel, then can go again.

Thanks guys for the replies, Shorts - Think you've hit a (good) spot with me. THANKS! Definitely have given me lots of motivation to do lots and lots of physio on myself. It's strange how the physio (who is the head physio at the 'very good' hospital). I'll ask him on Thur if he recommends I do "lots" of physio at home and if he knows I should be doing LOTS of work to get the muscles working with the appropriate nerves.

Cheers My surgeon basically said I need intense physio in the context of "You need intense physio because even if you have 100% signal, it's no good if isn't controlling the muscles. So work those muscles with intense physio. I head in to physio just over a week after that and I start doing 'light' work, 2hrs a week. Hmmm, kind of worries me because he IS THE MAN @ the hospital. Everyone asks him for opinions/help.

well, midnight here, I need sleep. ta ta for now! *yawn*

Yeah. Your injured arm now has to play catch up to reach the same strength and control as your good arm. For an experiement, instead of doing all your daily tasks with your good arm, do all your daily tasks with your injured arm. That will display exactly just how far behind your arm is. Everyday tasks are not even thought about when you use your good arm. Everything is "easy". But on your injured arm, tasks are tiring, take more focus and concentration and even more effort to apply strength. It is an eye opener to see the difference.

You have to really catch that injured arm up to the good arm. And you can do that little by little, just like if you were working out for a bodybuilding contest.


I am doing similar with my legs. My initial broken neck injury parlyzed my legs too, and I had to learn to walk again. However, since the injury was on my left side, it severely weakened my left leg and my right leg remained very strong. So, in a sense, my left leg was basically "reset" to zero. When I go to the gym to lift weights, I will do all the normal leg exercises: squats, extensions, ham curls, leg press etc. But, in order to continue to bring my left leg up to the same strength level as my right leg, I work each leg on the auxillary exercises doing one a time. So, like on leg extensions, I set the weight to say 40lbs. I do 10reps on my right leg, then 10reps with left leg. When I do each leg separately I can see how matched or unmatched the strength is but how tired each leg feels, or how many reps I can finish. Now as far as the amount of weights I move now, I have progerssively worked up from zero. The goal for me is to get my left leg to the same strength level as my right leg. That will take more time to develop that strength, but I also need to maintain it once I do.

It's the same for nerves. You must keep using nerves in order to keep signals being able to travel the path. Think of it like a little path through the woods. If only one person walks through the path one time, the foliage and grass is not disturbed much and you can hardly tell that someone has walked through there. But, if you get a thousand people to walk that path several times a days for a whole year, then the grass gets worn away and you see bare dirt, the foliage along that path becomes "carved" in a way because of the flow of people.

The more you use it, the better it gets.

Hi there,
Regarding my BPI in right hand, My neurosurgeon who performed exploratory surgery on me in Feburvary last year told me in a consultation shortly after that I needed intense physio. Now i am consultation is monthly one time. During monthly checkup he will tell wait shortly you will get it.

I have doing physio daily by passive excersise and electrical simulation. Also my physio saying your Tinar signal getting is postively. But physically i didnt get anything in movement......

1)When you have achevied to lift the weight, approximate duration after prime surgery. Because foe me did the surgery Feb 2006, till i did not have the any movement, but some time i am getting impulse signal.
2)Are you can write in your hand.
3)After prime surgery how many times you did nerve conduct test. In my case after prime surgery i did only one time MRI scan.

Convay your experience here, this will hep to boost our confidence and incase we are doing some mistake in Physio or other things.

Hope you will be back normal and pray for the same to you. Goodluck........Ramesh