WIO Adds 4 Significant Pieces of Equipment

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Welcome to our new website! Walk It Off Spinal Cord Recovery and Wellness Centre (WIO) has had a very successful fundraising year enabling us to add 4 significant and valuable pieces of equipment to our therapy program. With over $60,000 raised, we were able to purchase a Functional Electrical Stimulation Bike ($35,000), a VibePlate ($3,500) and most recently, a LiteGait harnessed walker and GaitKeeper treadmill ($23,000). Becoming a Not for Profit organization and subsequently the ability to fundraise for our equipment, has allowed us to provide our program at an affordable cost so we can reach more individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI).

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Bike

Walk It Off is the first facility to acquire a FES bike north of Toronto. With FES, electrodes are placed over the skin of the paralyzed legs or arms, abdomen, back and buttocks. A small current is passed into the muscle beneath to create contractions. The FES allows the paralyzed areas of the body to contract in an organized pattern causing the arm crank or leg pedals to cycle. The benefits come from the client’s own muscle activity doing the work and helping to:

• Increase cardio-pulmonary fitness
• Rebuild leg and arm muscle strength and mass
• Improve bone density offsetting Osteoporosis
• Improve intestinal & bladder function
• Improve response to insulin
• Decrease limb spasticity
• Decrease pain
• Increased function and independence
• Improve emotional and general well-being

VibePlate

Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) therapy and exercise has been used by top athletes to increase strength and performance whereby exercises are performed while on a vibrating surface. NASA is using WBV with their Astronauts to reduce bone loss when in gravity reduced conditions. It has become more popular for medical and therapy clinics to use WBV therapy to help support the recovery and wellness programs for patients, including individuals with SCIs. Walk It Off chose to purchase the VibePlate, a 24” x 40” vibrating platform for WBV. Many of the exercises that we do such as standing, squats, kneeling, abdominal/core exercises, push-ups and many more are now done on the VibePlate. Our clients report feeling the positive effects of exercise in a shorter amount of time and state that they feel more energized after a session. Some are able to stand for longer periods of time, and have less hypotensive symptoms (low blood pressure is a big obstacle for SCIs).

LiteGait and GaitKeeper

We are waiting on our LiteGait and GaitKeeper treadmill and expect to have it up and running at Walk It Off in the next month. With the LiteGait, a member is harnessed over a treadmill where they can practice various walking exercises. Benefits from the LiteGate are:

• Increased number of members receiving gait training
• Allows for longer gait training sessions
• Increased load-bearing to promote the improvement of bone density, offsetting Osteoporosis
• Provides a secure, safe and enjoyable environment while gait training.

We’d love you to visit our YouTube channel to see our clients in action on these new pieces of equipment.

Do you know of someone who could benefit from our programs? Please feel free to contact us.  You can also leave a comment below. Feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one, via the commentluv feature here on the site.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Heather