What does rehabilitation specifically involve?

  Rehabilitation therapy is a systematic project, mainly including: (1) Motor therapy: It is used to restore the motor function of hemiplegic patients, mainly one-to-one (i.e., one rehabilitation therapist to one patient) manipulative therapy. The treatment method is based on the principle of central neurodevelopment, restoring the patient’s motor and sensory functions and inhibiting abnormal movements and reflexes through easy-to-use and facilitation techniques. It is also combined with the use of some exercise equipment to promote the patient’s motor ability.  (2) Occupational therapy: It is a rehabilitation treatment targeting upper limb motor ability, coordination and fine hand activities, with the aim of restoring the patient’s ability to perform activities of daily living.  (3) Physiotherapy: such as functional electrical stimulation, biofeedback therapy and corresponding physical therapy to improve the muscular and circulatory problems of the hemiplegic limbs.  (4) Speech therapy: Patients with concomitant speech dysfunction are treated to improve the patients’ verbal communication ability.  (5) Psychotherapy: Patients with stroke hemiplegia are often accompanied by depression and anxiety and need to be given appropriate psychological intervention.  (6) Rehabilitation engineering: For hemiplegic limbs, appropriate orthopedic braces can be configured to stop limb deformation and assist functional activities.  (7) Rehabilitation care: functional position placement and passive activities of the limbs in the early stage of patient onset or bed-ridden period, prevention of respiratory, urinary tract and gastrointestinal complications, etc.  According to the theory of Chinese medicine, hemiplegia belongs to “loss of tendon support and blockage of meridians”, so acupuncture and massage treatment can open the meridians. In the rehabilitation of hemiplegia in stroke, acupuncture and massage do play an important role and make the rehabilitation treatment more Chinese. However, acupuncture and massage cannot replace rehabilitation treatment.