A Special Issue: Spinal Cord Injury & Rehabilitation

Himabindhu Gude^*
*Correspondence: Himabindhu Gude, Department of Psychology, Child Psychology Unit, KotiWomen’s College, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, Tel: +918143389651, Email:

Therapy after Brain Injury

Stroke is one of the main causes of brain injury which requires brain rehabilitation and occurs with a lack of blood flow to the brain or bleeding in the brain. Rehabilitation after a brain injury is unpredictable and every injury is not similar. Brain cells do not repair it or regenerate when they are destroyed but it is able to reorganize itself to regain the lost function. During the recovery stage, other areas of brain take over the activities of the damaged areas and new nerve passageways can be established with the help of undamaged brain cells.

It can be a challenging to return to the independent living, school or work after a brain injury. Brain rehabilitation therapy helps people to relearn the functions which were lost in brain injury or to minimise the impact of long-term brain injury. This includes daily activities such as eating, walking, speech, or dressing. Brain injury can affect people in different ways. People with severe brain injuries may have:

• Movement problems

• Emotional problems

• Thinking and memory problems

• Language problems

• Pain or numbness

Brain rehabilitation begins at hospital. During brain rehabilitation, care team will help you to improve physical, mental and behavioral functioning of your brain and body.

Therapy depends on the individual needs. Brain rehabilitation specialists will work with the patient and patient family to discuss treatment goals and determine the ways to meet the goals.

Brain injury rehabilitation occurs in the following settings:

Inpatient rehabilitation: This type of rehabilitation involves intensive specialist rehabilitation. Neurological rehabilitation centres provide an ideal setting for further treatment, where structured rehabilitation programmes are in place throughout the day.

Outpatient rehabilitation: In this type of rehabilitation, few people are well enough to return to their home and able receive further treatment as an outpatient, either at a local hospital or at a separate rehabilitation centre.

Community rehabilitation: People who can develop their independent living skills and able to live in their own place. Few people will go back to their homes, with a community rehabilitation team or outreach team helping them for further progress; this may involve therapists working with the person in their home or community environment.

Brain Rehabilitation Clinic offers several outpatient programs. They are

• Concussion management

• Cognitive rehabilitation

• Vocational case coordination

• Neuromuscular brain rehabilitation program

• Speech and language rehabilitation

• Brain Injury Coping Skills Group (BICS)

Family members are a crucial asset to the patient in providing both long-term support and major contribution to the rehabilitation process. It is also important for the team to recognise the family members often have a special rapport with the patient and may detect subtle communication.