Electrical Stimulation Exercise for People with Spinal Cord Injury: A Healthcare Provider Perspective

Electrical stimulation exercise is an important modality to help improve the mobility and health of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Electrical stimulation is used to stimulate peripheral nerves in the extremities to assist with muscle strengthening or functional activities such as cycling, rowing, and walking. Electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerves in the upper extremities has become a valuable tool for predicting the risk of hand deformities and rehabilitating functional grasping activities. The purpose of this paper is to provide healthcare providers perspective regarding the many rehabilitation uses of electrical stimulation in diagnosing and treating individuals with SCI. Electrical stimulation has been shown to improve functional mobility and overall health, decrease spasticity, decrease the risk of cardiometabolic conditions associated with inactivity, and assist in the diagnosis/prognosis of hand deformities in those with tetraplegia.

• 1
  NMES and FES activities provided positive results on muscle mass after eight to sixteen weeks of training. Atkins and Bickel [21] reported increases in muscle volume that range from 20–72% with an average increase of 26% among NMES and FES studies.
• 2
  FES cycling can improve aerobic fitness and has the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic conditions after SCI.
• 3
  Current evidence indicates that FES cycling can reduce lower extremities’ spasticity for individuals at all levels of SCI.