Jean-Michel Gracies
This book is an informative guide for both the patient and therapist, and provides a series of exercises that target the most important muscles for those with spastic paresis. Actively practicing the exercises prescribed in this self-rehabilitation manual will allow the patient to see continued improvement in their muscle functioning. Spastic paresis is the consequence of a central nervous system disorder such as a stroke, traumatic brain or spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, or a tumor of the nervous system, conditions that may have occurred in childhood or adulthood. In spastic paresis two problems coexist: the word ’paresis’ means that when the brain sends a command to a muscle to contract, this order is incompletely received by the muscle; the word ’spastic’ indicates that at the same time muscles cannot relax normally and have a tendency to be spontaneously overactive. A daily program of prolonged stretching and an intensive motor training program using unassisted largeamplitude rapid alternating movements is recommended to gradually increase brain command effectiveness.
