Neurological Rehabilitation

Neurological Physiotherapy in Adelaide

Living with a neurological condition can affect the way you move, walk, balance, exercise and perform everyday activities. You may notice changes in your strength, coordination, balance, walking, hand function or endurance. You may also experience fatigue, muscle stiffness, tremor, pain or reduced confidence with movement.

At Advanced Neuro Rehab, our experienced Neurological Physiotherapists provide individualised neurological rehabilitation in Adelaide. We work with you to understand how your condition is affecting your movement and develop a rehabilitation program around your goals.

Our aim is to help you move more confidently, maintain your independence and continue doing the things that are important to you.

What is neurological physiotherapy?

Neurological physiotherapy is an experienced area of physiotherapy for people whose movement or function has been affected by a condition involving the brain, spinal cord, nerves or muscles.

Neurological conditions can affect everyone differently. Two people with the same diagnosis may have very different symptoms and rehabilitation needs. Your physiotherapy program may focus on:

• Walking and mobility
• Balance and falls prevention
• Strength and fitness
• Coordination
• Arm and hand function
• Movement control
• Muscle stiffness and tightness
• Transfers and getting up from chairs or beds
• Fatigue management
• Cardiovascular fitness
• Pain management
• Confidence with movement
• Maintaining independence
• Returning to activities, hobbies, work or sport

We use evidence-based rehabilitation strategies and tailor your treatment to your condition, abilities and goals.

What symptoms can neurological physiotherapy help with?

You do not necessarily need to search for your diagnosis to know that you may benefit from neurological physiotherapy. People commonly seek neurological physiotherapy because they are experiencing:

Difficulty walking

You may notice that you are walking more slowly, taking smaller steps, dragging a foot, losing your balance or becoming less confident when walking outdoors. We can assess your walking and develop a targeted gait rehabilitation program.

Balance problems and falls

Balance can be affected by changes in strength, sensation, coordination, vision, vestibular function and the way your brain processes information. We can assess your individual falls risk and provide targeted balance and falls prevention exercises.

Muscle weakness

Neurological conditions can cause weakness in specific muscles or throughout the body. Progressive strengthening can help maintain or improve physical capacity and make everyday activities easier.

Muscle stiffness and spasticity

Increased muscle tone or stiffness can affect walking, transfers, posture and everyday movement. We can help you develop strategies to manage stiffness, maintain movement and reduce secondary complications.

Tremor and involuntary movements

Conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and dystonia can affect movement control. Neurological physiotherapy can help you develop strategies to improve movement efficiency and function.

Fatigue

Fatigue is common across many neurological conditions and can significantly affect work, exercise and everyday activities. We can help you develop appropriate exercise, activity management and pacing strategies while working towards maintaining your physical fitness.

Reduced confidence

Changes in balance, strength or mobility can make people afraid of falling or worried about getting out and about. Rehabilitation can include graded exposure to activities and environments so you can gradually rebuild confidence with movement.

How can neurological physiotherapy help?

Your rehabilitation program will depend on your diagnosis, symptoms and goals. Treatment may include:

Movement-based training

We use repeated, purposeful movements to help you practise the skills that are important to you. This may include walking, transfers, reaching, stepping, balance activities or more complex functional tasks.

Progressive strength training

Maintaining strength is important for mobility, independence and overall health. We can develop a progressive strengthening program that is appropriate for your condition and current abilities.

Balance and falls prevention

We assess the different systems that contribute to balance and develop exercises to challenge these systems safely. This may include static and dynamic balance, stepping reactions, walking activities and dual-task training.

Gait and walking rehabilitation

We can assess how you walk and identify strategies that may help improve your speed, safety, efficiency and confidence. This may include treadmill or overground walking, stepping exercises, cueing strategies and task-specific gait training.

Cardiovascular fitness

Maintaining cardiovascular fitness is an important part of neurological rehabilitation and long-term health. We can develop an exercise program using equipment and activities that are appropriate for your abilities and goals.

Arm and hand rehabilitation

Neurological conditions can affect reaching, gripping, coordination and fine motor skills. Where appropriate, rehabilitation may include repetitive task practice, strengthening and functional training for the upper limb and hand.

Education and self-management

Understanding your condition and knowing how to manage your symptoms can be an important part of rehabilitation. We can provide education about exercise, fatigue, falls risk, mobility, equipment and strategies to help you remain as independent as possible.

Neurological rehabilitation is about more than your diagnosis

A neurological diagnosis does not tell the whole story. We look at how your condition is affecting you as an individual and what you want to achieve. For example, your goal may be to:

• Walk further
• Get up from a chair more easily
• Reduce your falls risk
• Return to the gym
• Improve your balance
• Be able to use your affected arm again
• Improve your fitness
• Get back to playing with your grandchildren
• Feel more confident going out independently
• Maintain your mobility as your condition changes

Your rehabilitation program is designed around these goals.

Exercise and neurological physiotherapy

Exercise is an important part of managing many neurological conditions. Depending on your condition, exercise may help you maintain strength, cardiovascular fitness, balance, mobility and independence.

At Advanced Neuro Rehab, we can provide individual physiotherapy programs as well as small-group exercise options for people living with neurological conditions. Our programs may include progressive strengthening, balance training, cardiovascular exercise, movement-based training and functional activities.

We also offer condition-specific FightBack exercise programs, including our Parkinson’s FightBack and Multiple Sclerosis FightBack groups, providing structured small-group exercise with appropriate supervision and support.

Living well with a neurological condition

Neurological rehabilitation is not only about improving a particular movement. It is also about helping you stay active, healthy and independent over the long term.

We can work with you to establish an exercise routine that is realistic and sustainable, whether that involves continuing physiotherapy, participating in a small-group program or transitioning to an appropriate gym or community exercise program.

Where appropriate, we can also work alongside your GP, neurologist, occupational therapist, exercise physiologist, orthotist, speech pathologist and other members of your healthcare team.

A recognised area of physiotherapy

World Physiotherapy (formerly the World Confederation for Physical Therapy) and the Australian Physiotherapy Association recognise neurology and neuroscience as a special subgroup of physiotherapy. Neurological physiotherapy consists of rehabilitation interventions aimed at improving the physical aspects of neurological and neuromuscular disorders, merging key discoveries in neuroscience, exercise and movement science.

We can also provide advice, support and advocacy to help you access the best available care.

Conditions we treat

We work across a wide range of neurological conditions. Each of these has its own page explaining the condition and how physiotherapy can help.

• Stroke
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Brain Injury Rehabilitation
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Motor Neurone Disease
• Functional Neurological Disorders (FND)
• Ataxia
• Spino Cerebellar Ataxia (SCA)
• Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)
• Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)
• Dystonia
• Cerebral Palsy
• Peripheral Neuropathy
• Guillain-Barré Syndrome
• Hereditary Spastic Paraparesis
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)
• Myositis
• Bell’s Palsy
• Vestibular Migraine
• Dementia
• Chronic Pain
• Falls Prevention & Balance

Neurological physiotherapy across Adelaide

Advanced Neuro Rehab has a long history of providing neurological physiotherapy and rehabilitation in Adelaide. Our team has experience working across a wide range of neurological conditions and presentations, from people who have recently experienced a neurological event through to those managing a long-term or progressive condition.

We also have a strong involvement in neurological rehabilitation education and research, helping our physiotherapists stay up to date with current evidence and rehabilitation approaches.

We have clinics in Royston Park, Goodwood, Christies Beach and Allenby Gardens, making neurological physiotherapy accessible across Adelaide. Contact us to book an assessment at your nearest clinic.