What are the joint mobility training equipment

The joint mobility training equipment we use in daily rehabilitation ranges from simple gadgets for home use to professional equipment exclusive to institutions. The core is to help people with limited joints slowly open adhesions and restore normal range of motion.

The first thing that comes to mind is the gadgets that many people can have at home, such as door suspension straps, pulley rings, elastic bands, foam rollers, and yoga bricks. Last time I met a young man who had undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. He thought it was too troublesome to go to the hospital every week to practice knee bending. He bought a zipper with an angle limiter according to the parameters we gave him and practiced at home. Every time he pulled it until he felt soreness, he stopped for 10 seconds. The recovery speed was more stable than that of patients who came twice a week during the same period. The kind of upper limb pulley rings that are common in the community are not considered IQ taxes. Patients who have difficulty moving their upper limbs after rotator cuff injury, frozen shoulder, or cerebral infarction can pull for more than ten minutes a day. They can rely on gravity to slowly pull apart the adhering shoulder joints. It is much more comfortable than family members. An aunt I met with frozen shoulders felt pain when raising her arms to shoulder height at first. After three weeks of practice, she was able to braid her hair by herself.

In the early postoperative period or if joint adhesion is particularly severe, professional equipment in the institution is generally used. The most common one is a CPM machine, which is a continuous passive motion device. Many patients after total knee replacement and elbow joint surgery will use it the next day after surgery. The machine moves the joints at a constant speed and at a small angle without the patient having to exert force. This can avoid early muscle tension from pulling on the wound and reduce the probability of adhesions. After the patient has a certain muscle strength, he or she will also use wrist and ankle joint trainers with adjustable damping, which is like adding a little "small resistance" to joint activities. While practicing range of motion, they can also practice peripheral muscle strength, making recovery more efficient.

Nowadays, there are many "leg-breaking tools" and "wrist-pressing tools" sold by Internet celebrities on the Internet. Among our colleagues, there are quite different opinions on these products. One group thinks that ordinary patients cannot control the strength and angle at all, and it is easy to strain the ligaments and aggravate the injury by using too much force. It is not recommended for ordinary people to buy it for home use at all; the other group believes that as long as it is evaluated by a rehabilitation practitioner in advance and the limit angle and strength are adjusted, using it at home can save the time of going to the hospital. It is very cost-effective. To put it bluntly, the tool itself is fine, and whether you can use it is the key.

To be honest, these equipment are all auxiliary tools, just like the power-assisted wrench used when oiling a rusty door hinge. The more expensive the better, the more effective it is. It is suitable for your joint limitations and used in the right way. If you are not sure how to choose, it is best to find a professional rehabilitation practitioner to evaluate it before buying it. Don't buy it blindly and hurt your joints.