Stroke Therapy

A Stroke damages the brain and many of the pathways or neural connections to the muscles have been destroyed or damaged and many will never return. Our brain may no longer recognize our body's position in space let alone how to take control of it, however the brain has a great deal of plasticity and redundancy and it is possible to help restore some of the lost function by training other portions of the brain to take over. It is not an easy process and takes a great deal of time and dedication, however, it is possible to make improvement!

Stroke survivors are often told in traditional therapy, treatment or rehabilitation that "anything you haven't gotten back in the first 90 days you might never get back!"

The stroke therapy offered at Ability Camp combines Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to help stimulate the injured brain and an intensive and focused therapeutic exercise program called Conductive Education to help repair or form new connections from the brain to the muscles. With the combination of these two therapies we have been able to help people make improvements even 15 years after their stroke occurred.

So even if you aren't getting results with other types of therapy, treatment or rehabilitation it is not too late and there is still hope using our combined Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Conductive Education programs.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

The late Dr. Neubauer was one of the pioneers who began working with hyperbaric oxygen therapy for stroke rehabilitation. He performed SPECT scans and found that his patients had areas of the brain that were severely damaged however the immediately surrounding areas showed low levels of activity. These same areas, "The Recoverable Brain" showed increased levels of activity following a series of Hyperbaric sessions.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) involves having our clients sit in our large hyperbaric chamber. We slowly increase the surrounding pressure and the sensation is similar to what you experience in an aircraft while it is descending. You may feel a slight pressure building in your ears which is generally easily cleared by swallowing, yawning etc. There should be no pain or discomfort!

Inside the chamber each client wears a clear hood (Plastic Bubble) and is given 100% Oxygen to breathe. As the pressure is slowly increased we are physically squeezing the molecules of Oxygen closer. In this concentrated form the red blood cells in our blood are able to carry higher levels of oxygen throughout our body more effectively than it can in any other way. Even the plasma, the fluid that carries the red blood cells can also absorb and carry Oxygen into very fine vessels or partially blocked vessels that the large red blood cells may not be able to pass.

Lifting Arms

What is Conductive Education?

Conductive Education is a method of teaching and training the injured brain to communicate with the muscles and the body which was first developed in Hungary over 70 years ago. Our lead therapist or "Conductor" as they are called in Hungary has over 19 years post graduate experience. We work in small groups two hours each day (Mon. - Fri.) and our clients are guided through a series of tasks designed to help improve basic skills, which form the building blocks required to improve more complex movements such as improved balance and walking as well as improving the use and functioning of an affected arm.

Clients are shown how to actively work their muscles and assistance is given as needed. We do not use elaborate machines because most machines are designed to do the work for you passively but when muscles are not used actively they quickly begin to atrophy and weaken. It is always our goal to challenge and train you to become more independent.

All of our clients have praised our staff saying that this is more effective and unlike anything they were asked to do in traditional therapy, treatment or rehabilitation.

Steps

Many Stroke survivors have taken Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to help with their rehab and have seen gains in areas such as a reduction in spasticity, improved speech and thought processing and some have recovered their lost sense of taste. The purpose of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is to stimulate the recoverable brain to become more active, however, if the neural connections from the brain to the rest of the body have been destroyed the increased brain activity alone may not improve the physical abilities such as walking or the use of an arm and may be more successful if trained to take over and relearn some of the lost function. We have found that we were able to produce better results when we combined Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Conductive Education together.

How long does it take?

We offer 3, 4 and 5 week sessions which vary throughout the year which include:

3 weeks - 40 hrs Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy & 30 hrs Conductive Education
4 weeks - 50 hrs Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy & 40 hrs Conductive Education
5 weeks - 60 hrs Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy $ 50 hrs Conductive Education

Each of the above programs are similar except for the duration. Rehabilitation and recovery takes time and dedication, the more treatment time we have with each client gives us the greatest chance of achieving results. We provide free accommodations for our clients including a private room with one double bed and one single bed, a TV, telephone and internet connection. There is a common Kitchen that families share to do their own meal preparation and all of our facilities are in the same building all on one floor.

My stroke was years ago, is it too late?

Following a stroke, the sooner we can start your rehab the easier our job is because you will have less physical issues we have to correct. We have however, still been able to help people make significant gains even 15 years after their stroke. It is not too late to start!

What is the Success Rate?

To the best of our knowledge all of the people who have participated in our stroke recovery programs have made gains. Keep in mind that every brain injury is unique and the amount of progress that any one individual makes has many factors such as the severity of the injury and the participation of the client. We cannot do the work for you nor can we create instant miracles however we can help guide you to a better quality of life. With our help and effort on your part, the outlook can be very promising!