Rehabilitation
Bike therapy for quadriplegics
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For the more than 300,000 people living with spinal cord injuries, being resigned to a wheelchair may be a fact of life. But one Austin hospital is offering patients a way out of their wheelchairs.
A diving accident four years ago paralyzed Jared Dunten, 32, from the neck down. It happened in the prime of his life, but Dunten won't accept paralysis as a final diagnosis. "Clearly I couldn't move anything, but I never let anyone tell me 'you're never going to walk again, you're never going to move again,'" Dunten said.
Instead, he's participating in a new research study at the Brain and Spine Center at Brackenridge Hospital. Three times a week Dunten gets to feel movement again on a Functional Electrical Stimulation Bike. It's the same bike actor Christopher Reeve used. Local experts saw the great results he got from it and decided to include it in the research study.
Doug English is a former NFL and Longhorn football player who's recovered from a spinal injury himself. He helped fund the bike study through his nonprofit, the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation. "People have actually had a little bit of neuromuscular regeneration as a result from using it. That really pushes it from the realm of rehab to the realm of research," English said.
Participation in the research isn't always easy. It takes 15 minutes just to get Dunten prepped. Twelve electrodes deliver a sequence of electrical stimulus to his quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteal muscles. Experts have already studied the bike's benefits with weight loss and fluid retention. Now they want to take it a step further.
"What we're wondering are the other overall benefits, like what are the endorphins doing for his feeling of well-being? Getting a cardiovascular workout. What does that do for the overall health benefits?" Steve Jennings of the Brackenridge Brain and Spine Center said. Dunten doesn't want to be known as the local poster boy for spinal cord injuries. Instead, he wants to be known as the ex-quadriplegic. "I can't conceive of my future in a wheelchair. I have yet to have a dream where I'm in a wheelchair, I'm always up and going," Dunten said.
The study will continue for three months. For more information on the Functional Electrical Stimulation bike study, contact the Brain and Spine Center at (512) 324-7782.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2005TWEAN News Channel of Austin, L.P. d.b.a. News 8 Austin