fescycling.com

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Site Purpose

This site has two intentions. Information about FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation) - and in particular FES Cycling. The second is to offer support and information to our clients.

FES Cycling is an effective way of keeping fit when following a spinal cord injury, regular exercise is difficult to get. There is also increasing evidence of the benefit of FES Cycling in long term Multiple Sclerosis and in early stroke rehabilitation.

If you are casual browser there should be plenty to inform you here.

If you would like a Guide Document to FES Cycling please Click Here or Click the Image to Request a Copy

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What is FES Cycling?

This is a therapeutic activity that uses transcutaneous electrical current to initiate muscle contractions of paralysed lower limbs in persons who have sustained a spinal cord injury or been affected by stroke or MS. The order and strength of the muscle contractions are controlled by computer to generate the power to pedal a stationary cycle. The aim is not to provide passive motion - but to actively engage the muscles to generate muscle strength and improve fitness.

Benefits

Key benefits of FESCycling exercise are as follows:

Cardio-pulmonary fitness
Rebuild muscle strength and bulk
Improve bone density
Improve blood circulation
Improve intestinal & bladder function
Improve response to insulin (diabetes)
Decrease limb spasticity
Improved feelings of well-being

FES is a useful in many cerebral motor lesions of the lower limbs including Paraplegia/ Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke

Part of Life

Remember this is not a treatment and certainly not a "cure" - but can be health-giving a part of daily life.
This technology assists the client to exercise and receive fitness benefits otherwise not available.

Gallery - RehaMove

Gallery - RehaBike

FES Cycling - Fitness after spinal cord injury

FES Sport Event Video

A short video is here to celebrate the Second FES Sport Event which was held in Glasgow on the 19th & 20th June. It shows some photographs from the event against a music soundtrack. Hope you like it.

The Games are Over

The FES Sport Day on 19th & 20th June, brought competitors and visitors from Australia, Germany, England and Scotland to compete in various FES Sport events and to experience the latest research and development into FES technology. FES or Functional Electrical Stimulation is the technology that allows spinal cord injured individuals to independently exercise when previously their injury served as permanent obstacle to this.

Sponsored by Anatomical Concepts (UK) Ltd and Hasomed GmbH, the event expanded on a similar event held for researchers in the field back in 2006.

Benefits of FES Cycling for Spinal Cord Injury

Research suggests that the benefits that can come from using the RehaMove are

•    Improved cardiovascular health
•    Increased muscle bulk in the muscles of the legs
•    Increased bone density in the lower limbs
•    Reduction of spasticity
•    Lowered risk of pressure sores.
•    Cosmetic benefits

See -
Hunt and Donaldson (2006) – “Regular clinical measurements during the 1-year cycle-training programme showed important improvements in cardiopulmonary fitness, bone density, and muscle bulk and strength”

Check out the bibliography elsewhere on this site.

High-volume FES-cycling partially reverses bone loss in people with chronic spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to severe bone loss in the paralysed limbs and to increased fracture Balancing effect risk.Since long bone fractures can lead to comorbidities and a reduction in quality of life, it is important to improve bone strength in people with chronic SCI.

In this prospective longitudinal cohort study, the authors investigated whether functional electrical stimulation (FES) induced high-volume cycle training can partially reverse the loss of bone substance in the legs after chronic complete SCI.

The authors conclude that high-volume FES-induced cycle training has clinical relevance as it can partially reverse bone loss and thus may reduce fracture risk at this fracture prone site.

Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence - Document

Readers may be interested in a document available for download from scribd.com. This sumarises the research evidence for rehabilitation following spinal cord injury. The document was written based on the state of knowledge in 2005 by a group of Canadian researchers and physicians. See http://www.scribd.com/doc/8951639/Spinal-Cord-Injury-Rehabilitation-Evidence
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Reducing Cardiovascular Risk After Spinal Cord Injury

Recent research indicates that people with spinal cord injuries have an increased cardiovascular risk. It has been suggested that heart disease is the primary cause of death in people with spinal cord injury. People with a spinal cord injury are more at risk of coronary heart disease for three reasons:
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Client Feedback

We have recently been asking our existing RehaMove clients for information on how they use their systems. Clients who responded to our questionnaire range in age between 21 and 46 years and had their accidents causing spinal injury between 12 months and 10 years ago.
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