Long ago I watched a video of Edward Taub where he
described micro-movements. He was talking about CI Therapy and the arm
that did not move. The paralyzed arm actually was doing these micro-movements. CI Therapy is Constraint-Induced [movement] Therapy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constraint-induced_movement_therapy
I
believe the same thing is happening with my swallowing. It's there, but
the motion of swallowing is so "micro", that it is not detectable by
current methods.
Back
when I was in rehab it was common to hear a therapist say 'visualize
yourself doing...' and then a desired task was said. This may be a building block to
the formation of a memory.
I wonder if these memories are then the "micro-movements" that precede a desired action. The movements are not detectable, yet a person would swear that they are doing the desired movement. "Proof is in the pudding." I have been visualizing, exercising, then moving for years. Just look at my pictures and videos.
"For seven years, Angela was in a coma, waxing and waning, often in
a “semi-vegetative state”."
http://spiritualscientific.com/DrMorseBlog/2010/08/16/not-a-vegetable-at-all-but-a-white-crow/ It
should have changed, maybe in year 3. I was in a long-term care unit in
a hospital at that time. That could have been possible, but I believe
this has never happened. Besides, I was government, Medicaid (Medi-Cal
in California). Change doesn't come easy to the govt. If change does
come it's usually years later. My diagnosis should have changed to MCS,
or Minimally Conscious State. What am I now-fully conscious?
What's happening now is "Boom! She's awake." That's not correct, or
someone would have noticed right away and there would have been
immediate news coverage. Instead it has been a very slow change, seen
better from year to year rather than day to day I have a photo stream where you can see the slow progress. The
last picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelar70/7171181827/in/set-72157625839268830
really shows the difference in my face. I'm smiling in both pictures,
but you can't even tell in the first picture. It took a whole year of
oral-motor exercises just to see it.
This shows the
"micromovements" E. Taub was talking about were there. You just couldn't
see them. I'm proposing these movements are in all areas, not just
upper extremities as he does. They are movements so small, it looks like the
affected side lost them. As a therapist, how do you know they are there?
You don't know for sure, so you'll have to assume they are there. They
will only work again if: the brain is still in tact (penetrating brain
injuries might have affected this, as well as some other injuries), the
spinal cord is in tact (this rules out SCI), and the area you are
working with is still there and not impeded (deformities, contractures,
frozen joints, etc.).
Progress will be minimal and slow. It
might help to do a yearly photo or recording. Exercises will be the same
ones you do already, but don't expect the patient to actually "DO"
them. They should "TRY". If it's 10 reps, it's still 10 reps (only 10
attempts). If it's PT, Range of Motion will start as inactive and become
more active. You will FEEL the patient activate the muscle. The
movement isn't micro anymore. It's just small. Continue with Range of
Motion, having the patient do more on his/her own.
I don't have the fancy equipment in the video below. However, I
do have myself. I can only see these changes in my behavior, and assume this
is the reason. I can't see changes in my brain.
