At his first meeting with the physical therapist two months ago, 22-year-old Ahmed was in a wheelchair. Now, with help and very carefully…he can take steps again. This positive development is not due to electrotherapy – this had only worsened his condition – but to an evidence-based, tailor-made Amsterdam Clinics spinal cord injury program.
Ahmed is from Libya, where he was injured in the war by a bullet in his spine. The bullet was surgically removed, but he could no longer walk. He decided to go to Egypt for physiotherapy. “Before he came to Amsterdam Clinics, Ahmed already had a path of “physiotherapy “, tells his treating physiotherapist. “I put “physiotherapy” in quotes, because before he came here, he only got electrotherapy. Ahmed then got little needles in his body, and after half an hour “the treatment” was over. Disgraceful practices, especially when you consider that electrotherapy is not evidence-based.”
In the case of Ahmed, electrotherapy certainly did not do its condition any good: it exacerbated the spasms in the muscles. Together with his Amsterdam Clinics physiotherapist, Ahmed discussed his goal: being able to walk again and lead a normal life. “First of all, together we started exercising the muscles needed to reach its goal”, says AMC physiotherapist. “Every day for 15 minutes, Ahmed performed targeted stretching exercises to strengthen the lower limbs. This lasted for two weeks. Then we started working on functional exercises, such as moving yourself from bed in a chair, and getting dressed. Ahmed is young and his physical condition was good, so we soon achieved good results. Now he’s walking again, still with help, but he walks. Ahmed is so satisfied that he now advises us to start also a clinic in Libya.”