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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How long does rehabilitation take?

    A friend from work had an accident on site and suffered a spinal cord injury. How long will he need to be in rehabilitation for?
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    Zac Jefcoate is the owner of Exzac Health Solutions. He was one of three accredited exercise physiologist practicing in G.P super clinics in Western Australia. … View Profile

    Well, how long is a piece of string. The answer to this is quite varied and can be quite long winded. But to make a really important point, what part of the spine was injured? Was it the cervical, thoracic, or was it the lower back. When you say suffered a spinal cord injury, what actually happened?

    For example, working with enough information, if they become incapacitated or they may have had a lumbar or a cervical disc bulge, or it might be a nerve root entrapment, this could take up to 12 months depending on their injury, depending on where it is, and also depending on their kind of work.

    So, exercise physiologists will design exercise rehabilitation programs if they were injured on site to get them stronger for work depending on their job. They work very well with physiotherapists to design rehabilitation programs based on their injury.

    I would suggest that the client in question needs to have an MRI. See the doctor who will then send the client for an MRI. This will then guide how severe or how mild the spinal cord injury is. Once they know how severe it is, that will then guide the recovery process.

    For example, if it is anything which relates to the spinal cord or the nerve, or the disc, you're looking at probably six to 12 months approximately depending on your pain and also largely depending on your current level of fitness. Exercise physiologists design programs based on all those three things to get you fitter, stronger and return back to work a lot quicker.

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