History of TheraSuit
- Richard and Izabela Koscielny are physical therapists, who have a daughter diagnosed with cerebral palsy and tried out suit therapy with her
- After significant improvements with the suit, they modified and created their own suit specialized for therapeutic benefits, called TheraSuit™
How Does TheraSuit Work?
- TheraSuit worn over a prolonged time will correct proprioception and accelerate progress with functional strengthening
- Skills practiced become more fluent when TheraSuit is worn
- TheraSuit facilitates the development of new gross and fine motor skills faster than typical therapy approaches
Benefits Seen with TheraSuit
- Retraining the central nervous system
- Restores ontogenetic development
- Provides external stabilization
- Normalizes muscle tone
- Aligns the body to as close to “normal” as possible
- Provides dynamic correction
- Normalizes gait patterns
- Provides tactile stimulation
- Influences the vestibular system
- Improves balance
- Improves coordination
- Supports weak muscles
- Decreases uncontrolled movements in ataxia and athetosis
- Improves body and spatial awareness
- Provides resistance to muscles to further enhance strengthening
- Improves speech production and fluency through head control and trunk support
- Promotes gross and fine motor development
- Helps decrease contractures
- Helps improve hip alignment through vertical loading
Patient Populations
-Most major neurological diseases/diagnoses
-Autism
-Down Syndrome
-Cerebral Palsy
-Cerebral Vascular Accident
-Traumatic Brain Injury
-Spinal Cord Injury
-Posture/alignment asymmetries
Intensive Physical Therapy Schedule
- Intensive physical therapy is meant to be done 3 hours/day, for 5 days/week for 3-5 weeks
- Recommended to complete 3-4 intensive bouts of therapy throughout the year
- Breaks between the bouts have been shown to be more beneficial for the patient vs continuously pushing for months on end
- Recommended to complete HEP 1-hour/day to compliment exercises done in intensive, allowing the patient to not only maintain, but improve their functional abilities
- The schedule of 4 weeks was created specifically in order to change the neuro-pathways, and allow for increased improvements
In general:
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- Week 1 works on correct muscle activation and beginning to complete basic concentric exercises
- Week 2 works on solidifying concentric movements and working into eccentric movements
- Week 3 solidifies the eccentric movements and introduces isometric holds
- Week 4 focuses all on isometric holds, working into more complex exercises, as well as creating POC and HEP for time off between bouts of intensive
Work to decrease primitive reflexes and general movements that are present → goal-directed movements → selective effective strategies → refining skills → maintaining through practice