Recovering from Gullain-barre syndrome can be frustrating. It is normal to want to get your life back, FAST! And the normal reaction is the more “exercise” you do the better, right? Unfortunately, this mentality can H
Recovering from Gullain-barre syndrome can be frustrating. It is normal to want to get your life back, FAST! And the normal reaction is the more “exercise” you do the better, right? Unfortunately, this mentality can HURT your recovery. Regaining strength in the muscles can take several months. Attempting to rush this process can cause damage to the muscles, delay recovery, and cause unnecessary frustration. There are critical things you need to know to make sure you are doing the BEST exercises. But first, it is important to understand a little more about what your body is experiencing after this attack on your nervous system.
What happens to the nerves in Guillain-Barre syndrome?
Am I really suggesting that exercise can HURT recovery? Yes…….and no. It all depends on dosing (the intensity and frequency) of the exercise program. This will be easier to understand once, you know what is causing your “muscle weakness”.
Muscle weakness (due to this attack on the nervous system) is different than what you may think. In a healthy nervous system, muscle weakness is due to a deficiency with the muscle contractility (performance of the muscle fibers). GBS muscle weakness is not the same. So, what is the difference?
It is not a muscle problem. IT IS A “CONNECTION” PROBLEM
The difference is that muscle weakness (following GBS) is not really a “muscle problem”, as it is a “connection problem”. In other words, the machine (the muscle) is working. However, it is the power source (the nerve) that is not working properly.
Depending on the severity of the attack and how long it takes to initiate treatment, muscle weakness can range from moderate to severe. The immediate medical treatment consists of getting these destructive antibodies out of the system.
In GBS, antibodies meant to protect the body now start to recognize healthy nerves as foreign and begin to attack. They attack the myelin that surrounds the nerves.
Myelin transmits electrical impulses down the nerve. When the myelin is damaged, the nerve impulse delivered to the muscle is diminished.
How does damage to the nerve effect the muscle?
One nerve innervates (connects to) multiple nerve fibers. Multiple nerve fibers must act together for voluntary movement to occur.
When the myelin is damaged, a “weaker” impulse is delivered to the muscle and fewer muscles fibers are recruited to perform voluntary movement.
Now the nerve and the muscle are having to work harder to perform voluntary movement. Great! Right? if it is having to work harder it will get stronger faster? Not exactly. Unfortunately
So knowing all this, is there a right and a wrong way to exercise when recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome? Absolutely.
How can the WRONG exercises hurt your recovery?
Muscle fatigue is when the muscle is unable to sustain a muscle contraction over time. Why is this a problem? When recovering from GBS, many patients resume their normal activities. Some may even add MORE strengthening to get better “faster”. Unfortunately, the result is just the opposite. The muscle fatigues and may reach the point of muscle failure. This leads to a cascade of negative metabolic events that leave toxins in the muscle that will cause it to break down. These events create a poor environment for healing and thus may slow overall recovery.
Generally speaking, exercise is extremely important for mental AND physical health and is strongly recommended. However, there is a RIGHT and a WRONG way to exercise from this type of neurologic injury. So what is the answer? Recognize muscles with NO connection (no voluntary movement) and make sure to protect those joints with bracing. A muscle needs to show some sign of a connection (voluntary movement that makes an arm or a leg move) before attempting to start a home strengthening program.
When is a muscle ready to start a strengthening program?
The goal is to build a s