Do you struggle with working out?
Amanda Perla shares the benefits of exercise-based therapy and how it has helped her as a quadriplegic, along with why her mother, Liza who founded NextStep Orlando Paralysis Recovery Center for people with spinal cord injuries and other neurological conditions.
In an interview with curemedical.com Amanda recalls, “I was just your average high school senior. I was a month shy of graduating. I’d been dancing competitively for 11 years prior and was on a dance team. I was out with friends and was in a car accident that left me with a broken neck. I was paralyzed at C-6, from the chest down. I spent the next six months in rehab. They taught me to adapt to life in a wheelchair, but they didn’t really seem interested in working with my legs or anything below my injury. They only wanted to focus on what was above my injury. They believed I would never live independently and basically told my mom to put me in a nursing home.”
Liza of course did not put Amanda in a nursing facility and brought her home to begin outpatient physical and occupational therapy. Soon after beginning her outpatient therapy, Amanda once again felt limited in the goals and expectations set for her. Coming from an active and competitive background, Amanda wanted to find a therapy program that would challenge her.
“We decided to try and find something else and travelled out to NextStep L.A. They had me standing on my first visit – which was great. It took four people, which now it only takes one, but I knew right away that this was what I was looking for.”
After making several trips to NextStep LA, Liza was convinced she needed to make this kind of activity based therapy to people living with spinal cord injuries in the SouthEast. And in 2009, NextStep Orlando opened its doors to the public to provide hope and recovery for people living with paralysis.
“It was receiving Activity Based Therapy on a consistent basis that really started to make a difference for me. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s a long process. It’s something I’ll have to do for the rest of my life. I can take a few steps with a walker or assistant. I can do squats on the Total Gym and pedal the spin bike on my own – the trainers just lift me up and secure my hips and feet. With the shift of my weight in my hips and legs, I’m able to pedal it on my own.”
NextStep Orlando offers a variety of types of training to maximize their clients results, including locomotor training, guided exercise, functional electrical stimulation (FES) and the NuStep. Their innovative equipment is meant to focus on gait training and standing, cardiovascular exercise and general strength training.
Aside from the many physical benefits of NextStep Orlando’s therapy program, it strives to provide a very welcoming environment as well. “We have a really positive atmosphere here – trainers, staff, clients, families. It helps people struggling with paralysis emotionally and mentally, not just physically. We’re all going through the same thing.”
If you’d like to read Amanda’s full interview with Cure Medical visit https://curemedical.com/amanda-perla-on-the-benefits-of-exercise-based-therapy-for-sci/