United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

What are some PT interventions for Brachial Plexus Palsy?? What, if any, modalities are used and at what points during the treatment are they used?? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi there.....physiotherapy is essential from as early as poss (usually after other injuries have healed) to keep the joints etc mobile, they freeze up pretty quickly. The exercises are usually passive and stretching a first. If pt isn't done, if or when the nerves heal the joints may be too stiff to use. I did pt 2 hours a session 3 times a week for 2 years, including hydrotherapy, after that i decided my arm wasn't going to recover and stopped going. The joints which seize quickest are elbow and shoulder, i know some people have actually fixed pulleys to the ceiling above their tv watching chair to pull the bpi arm up over their head over and over......the small muscles and joints in the hand need continuously stretching too, or you end up with a claw hand like mine! Splints can help with that. We are supposed to carry on physio indefintely even if we get little or no recovery, to help joint health and help prevent probs in the future, but i confess I do none at all. My life as a mum covers most of it, but i can only raise the bpi arm 90 degrees in front of me (passively, I have to lift it with the other arm) and only about 20 degrees out to the side-I can't say this effects my life at all as i cant use the arm anyway, but maybe I'll regret not continuing pt when i'm old......i'll let u know! 22 years post bpi i'm still fine....fingers crossed.... my elbow is lovely and free moving so i'm lucky there, it really helps with walking and running if your arm can swing freely, but my lower arm and hand are stuck palm up. Again, it doesnt affect me as I can't use it anyway. The time I DIDNT spend going to physio was put to good use :0)
We have a tbpi support group based in the uk (click on my name for the URL if you want to check it out) and are currently sourcing material for the site to cover this-there is plenty of stuff on the internet but it often refers to people with some level of movement, and even a mild tbpi has a flail arm to start with in most cases. I remember a new physiotherapist who didn't know about bpi saying to me 'Squeeze this ball in your right hand' hahahaaaaaaaa might as well say 'fly to the moon....!' If anyone's got any flail arm exercise pics or info please mail me......and good luck in your search. Try and get to see a specialist asap, and see a PT too, those joints seize very quickly. Cheers jen nz

Hi...are you asking as a PT yourslf, or as someone with a bpi? Just curious...my story is similar to Jens in that I did religiously do all my passive movements, stretches etc at the beginning, but pretty soon realised after a couple of years that it was a waste of time for me (I am certainly not encouraging others to give this up if it works for them...) and it hurt like h*ll!

After nearly 10 years, and virtually no PT for at least 8 of them, I can still pull my arm up straight over my head using my good one, and my fingers are still pretty supple, mainly because I tend to bend them over one at a time without thinking about it..just fidgeting really. I don't have any contractures anywhere, but I have lately been worried about how 'loose' my shoulder is getting since I have lost some weight...was the fat holding it together I wonder?? Good excuse to tuck into those chocolate buns if it was!

I can also say that one PT I met said something similar to me as jenny's did; for some odd reason, she was convinced that I wasn't trying hard enough when she asked me to make a fist...(not one of the PT's at Stanmore I might add..)....needless to say, I never bothered to go back.

PT is agony at the time, but wait till those endorphins kick in. Wow !

hey there!! i haven't had a chance to get on the net lately and check my replies. i'm a physical therapy assistant student at a college in delaware. i have to do a paper and project on brachial plexus palsy. that's why i came to this site to find out what i could. i need to find out the etiology or cause, clinical symptoms, associated deficits, and the rehabilitation. thank you so very much for replying to my message anything is a great help.