DIKUL'S METHOD®
About prof. V. Dikul
Valentin Dikul – professor, dr. of biological science, academician – member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, founder and head of the Rehabilitation Centre for the Persons after a Spinal Cord Injury and with Cerebral Palsy in Moscow, consultant and co-founder of lots of rehabilitation centre in the World, national consultant /in Russia/ for rehabilitation of the persons after spinal cord injury treated by means of the latest achievements of science.
About Dikul's method® in one sentence
Dikul's method® - created, developed and verified by professor V. Dikul, in his over 30-year-rehabilitation practice comprises the system of exercises, procedures and devices designed for intensive, long-lasting, individual rehabilitation of persons after the spinal cord injury and of persons with cerebral palsy.
The key idea of professor Dikul's method is the "reprogramming" of central nervous system in such a way so as to restore natural movement activity. The system of exercises developed by the professor consists in the strengthening of antagonist muscles (cooperative) that are nerved over the place of injury or the ones that nerve impulse still reaches. Then a patient using particular groups of muscles responsible for a particular movement learns how to perform them from the very beginning. As it can be concluded from the professor's experience by a suitable selection of exercises and long-lasting and systematic rehabilitation, nerve connections can be restored also with paralyzed muscles thanks to intercellular nerve connections of muscles which still react to the stimuli sent from brain.
Injuries and diseases of central nervous system result in various types of muscle paralysis and therefore the exercise cycle needs to be individually adapted to the abilities of a patient. Each training day begins with a warm-up which prepares organism to further physical exertion. Exercises take place 2-5 times a week a few hours a day, they are grouped into sets, this way every day another group of muscles undergoes training. These sets include passive exercises, assisted exercises, active and stretching exercises which result in the decrease of spastics and relaxation of muscles, counteract contractures, increase the mobility of joints and decrease swellings. A training cycle includes 3-5 sets selected acc. to the physical condition of a patient. Most exercises is performed in a natural position of a human being, i.e. in a standing position. It influences positively both physical and psychological condition of a patient.
For the needs of this method special couches and columns. They allow to perform exercises in the weight-block system in both standing and lying positions.
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Along with progresses of rehabilitation the program undergoes changes by the introduction of new exercises of higher degree of difficulty. What is also introduced is the walking learning in specially prepared shoes.
The rehabilitation is to activate muscles and nerves. The enlargement of total muscle mass and considerable improvement of movement coordination increases the independence of a disabled person and makes every day activities easier to perform, in many cases it allows to stand on one's own feet again.
Medical and psychological Dikul's method®
The loss of walking ability and being dependent on others is a tragedy to everyone. Passivity and lack of exercises can lead to the situation when muscles, ligaments and the whole skeletal system are not able to function correctly.
Years of practice and own experience of professor V. Dikul show that there are a lot of methods to restore a more normal and healthier life to the disabled. It is often possible to teach muscles to work in a way similar to the condition a priori an injury.
Professor V.Dikul has been teaching his system for over 20 years. His method is hard and demands a lot of sacrifice from a person practicing it. The Professor thinks that it is possible to make muscles recollect their anatomical movement and train working muscles to such degree that they can adopt the function of paralyzed muscles. A patient recollects the way the movement he/she could do before looked like, e.g. how he/she bent or straighten hand or leg. Neurological cooperation of brain and spinal cord can occur in another way, however the effect may still be the same - MOVEMENT. All this can be achieved thanks to hard and systematic work aimed at improvement and development of compensation muscles.
Professor V.Dikul believes that he is able to teach many of his patients to walk again, however ONLY IF THEY HAVE STRONG WILL TOWARDS THIS AIM and keep muscles and ligaments in good, so-called "working" condition. For this reason it is so important that a patient begins intensive rehabilitation right after leaving hospital and was not left all alone.
The results that are achieved thanks to the rehabilitation by Dikul's method® are often quite surprising, i.e. not only do they improve the quality of a patient's life but they also inspire others to work harder to improve health condition.
In most countries in the world rehabilitation is aimed at the providing patients with various devices and gadgets helping to solve problems related with house and every day life. In this approach the environment is adopted to a patient. Professor Dikul is by all means not against this approach. What distinguishes Dikul's method® is orienting rehabilitation at the improvement of patient's conditions to the degree in which he/she maximally restores his/her natural movement efficiency.
The rehabilitation by Dikul's method® by gradual increase of patient's independence "brings him/her back to life" in a society.