Neuromuscular reeducation retrains the neuromuscular system to function properly through exercises and therapies. It can help people with injuries or medical conditions, as well as healthy individuals looking to improve their balance, strength, or flexibility. Some forms, such as Rolfing and the Feldenkrais Method, focus on body awareness and the mind-body connection.
Neuromuscular reeducation is a general term that refers to techniques that attempt to retrain the neuromuscular system to function properly. The basis of this idea is that the formation of certain communication patterns between muscles and nerves allows people to perform simple everyday acts such as climbing stairs. These normal movement patterns can be disrupted by injury or can be impaired in people with certain medical conditions. The overall goal is to re-establish normal movement patterns in injured people or create normal movement patterns in disabled people by practicing a variety of exercises.
People with specific injuries or challenges often seek out these techniques. This can include people who have suffered fractures or strained muscles, or people with conditions such as arthritis or cerebral palsy. Even healthy people who want to improve their balance, strength, or flexibility, such as professional dancers or athletes, can seek out some form of these therapies.
In its most basic form, neuromuscular reeducation is very similar to physical therapy and can involve many of the same techniques to promote healing. This can include one-legged standing exercises to improve balance, strengthening exercises that target a specific area of the body, or stretching routines to increase both flexibility and range of motion in an injured limb. Therapeutic massage can also be part of these therapies.
Some practitioners believe that an important part of wound healing is the removal of fibrous adhesions, which are thought to arise within damaged areas of muscle or connective tissue and involve the overgrowth of fibrous tissue at the site of the injury. These areas are the body’s way of protecting tissue from further injury, but they are believed to result in a reduced range of motion, reduced flexibility, and ultimately weakening of the nearby muscle. A popular form of neuromuscular rehabilitation that focuses on releasing these fibrous adhesions is Rolfing.
These therapies in general tend to place more emphasis on body awareness than many standard physical therapies. Some forms are so strongly based on a sense of body awareness and strengthening the mind-body connection that they can be considered alternative medicine techniques. An example of such therapy is the Feldenkrais Method, which states that daily movements can become easier and require less effort if a person can reconnect and feel comfortable with their body.
The Feldenkrais Method believes that most aspects of movement and posture are based on a person’s self-perception; therefore, it is essential to be aware of and open to changing self-perception to change the body. This method can use relaxation, massage and touch therapy as well as movement exercises to achieve this mind-body connection. A return to natural movement through body awareness is thought to be beneficial for injuries or for people looking to improve some aspect of their overall fitness.
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