Active And Active-Assisted Exercising; Muscle Hypertonia/Spasms - MEDICA THERA-vital Gebrauchsanweisung

Active and active-assisted exercis-
ing
Active-assisted exercising means that the
patient's limbs are moved by the exerciser
without any effort on the part of the patient.
The motive power is provided by the exer-
ciser.
When first switched on, the THERA-vital al-
ways starts with a active-assisted exercising
phase with a preset resistance and speed.
When the patient starts actively exercising
with the same motion, the THERA-vital auto-
matically changes over to active exercising
mode.
Active exercising means that the patient uses
his/her own efforts and energy to turn the ma-
chine's cranks against the set resistance level
(see the section "Resistance/Power preset-
ting" on page 48).
There are several different ways in which the
patient can set up the machine for active ex-
ercising:
Set resistance: the patient exercises against
a set resistance level (see page 48.
Set power: the patient works at a constant
power output level (measured in watts). The
resistance is automatically adjusted accord-
ing to the pedalling speed (see page 48).
Heart rate limit: the patient exercises up to a
level of intensity defined by a heart rate limit.
If the patient's heart rate rises above the set
limit, the resistance is automatically lowered.

Muscle hypertonia/spasms

Muscle hypertonia can be effectively reduced
by gentle and even movement on the
THERA-vital.
The important consideration is that the dis-
tance between the THERA-vital and the pa-
tient's chair/wheelchair is kept as small as
possible to begin with. If this is combined with
an upright sitting position and a short crank
length (see "Radius adjustment" on page 43),
a reduction in the muscle hypertonia can gen-
erally be observed within a short time. Experi-
ence and scientific investigations have shown
that this effect can last for several hours.
In consultation with a doctor or therapist, an
exercise programme should be drawn up so
as to achieve the correct "degree" of hyperto-
nia reduction. If a spasm occurs while exercis-
ing, the electronic circuitry of the THERA-vital
detects it and immediately stops the motor –
assuming the anti-spasm function has been
activated (factory setting).
The type of spasm suffered by most patients
is an "extension spasm". On occurrence of a
extension spasm, the THERA-vital stops and
then continues to rotate forwards after a
short delay. That forward rotation stretches
the muscles and allows the spasm to recede
(for details of settings, see page 56).
In the event of the less common type of
spasm, the "flexion spasm", the THERA-vital
rotates backwards after a spasm occurs (for
details of settings see page 56).
41
With the Automatic Reversal setting (see
page 56), the THERA-vital reverses the direc-
tion of rotation after a spasm has occurred.