Physiotherapy exercises for bedridden people

Exercises for bedridden people should be done twice a day, every day, and they serve to improve skin elasticity and muscle strength and also to facilitate the movement of the joints, preventing their atrophy. In addition, they improve blood circulation by preventing decubitus ulcers, also popularly called bedsores.

The bedridden patient must do daily breathing exercises as well as mobilization or strengthening exercises for joints and muscles, always according to their possibilities. When the patient has strength and is able to sit or stand, it is possible that he performs the exercises alone, being supervised by a physiotherapist, nurse or caregiver, but when he is unable to move on his own, the professional who accompanies him should help to perform the exercises, holding on to your legs and arms, as needed.

The exercises should be performed slowly, respecting the limits of the bedridden and to motivate him to perform the exercises one should praise each time he performs the movement correctly, looking into his eyes, and when he has difficulty performing the exercise it is not it is appropriate to criticize or treat him badly, because this negative attitude will harm even more, diminishing his willingness to participate and fight for his recovery.

Motor exercises for bedridden

Some important guidelines are to repeat the series of exercises 2-3 times, with an interval of 1-2 minutes of rest between them; frequency of 1-3 days a week, with a minimum of 48 hours of rest between sessions, always remembering to maintain normal breathing during exercises, in order to avoid holding your breath during muscle contraction.

Some great motor exercises for bedridden people are:

Legs and feet

With the patient lying on his back, see if he can move his ankles from side to side and from top to bottom, as if he were doing the 'ballerina foot' movement. Each movement should be performed 3 times with each foot; Lying on your back, bend and stretch your legs 3 times in a row, with each leg; Lying on your back with your legs bent. Open and close the legs, touching and spreading one knee from the other; With the belly up and with the leg straight, raise the leg up, keeping the knee straight; With the belly up and with the leg straight, open and close the leg, to the outside of the bed; Bend your legs and try to lift the butt of the bed, 3 times in a row.

Arms and hands

Open and close your fingers, open and close your hands; Support your elbow on the bed and move your hands up and down and from side to side; If the patient can move his arms, ask him to bend his arm, trying to touch the shoulder, 3 times in a row, with each arm; with the arm straight, ask him to raise the arm upwards, keeping the elbow straight; keep the arm still and stretched along the body and do the movement of opening and closing the arm, dragging the arm on the bed; making a rotation movement of the shoulder, as if drawing a large circle on the wall.

Easily accessible objects such as a full water bottle, sand bags, rice or bean packaging can be used to increase exercise resistance, contributing to increased muscle mass.

Breathing exercises for bedridden

If the bedridden patient is able to get out of bed, he can perform this breathing exercises while sitting on the bed or standing. The exercises are:

Place your hands on your belly and breathe in quietly, while observing the movements felt in your hand; Inhale deeply and breathe out slowly, making a 'pout' with your mouth for 5 times in a row; Inhale deeply while raising your arms and release air when you lower the arms. To make it easier, you can do it with one arm at a time; stretch your arms forward and touch your palms together. Inhale deeply while opening your arms in the shape of a cross. Release the breath while closing your arms and touching your palms again, 5 times in a row. Fill half a 1.5 liter bottle of water and put a straw. Inhale deeply and release the air through the straw, making bubbles in the water, 5 times in a row.

These are just some examples of exercises that a bedridden elderly person can do alone or with help, but a physiotherapist will be able to indicate other more suitable exercises, according to the patient's need., Especially when the bedridden cannot perform the movements alone due to muscle strength or when there is some neurological change involved, as can happen after a stroke, myasthenia or quadriplegia, for example.

Exercises for facial paralysis or difficulty swallowing

Encourage the use of straws to drink liquids.Exercise chewing with chewing gum, infant teether or large piece of meat, but being careful not to choke; Fill your cheeks with air several times in a row; Snap lips and tongue about 10-20 times; Wither the cheek inwards, making a goldfish mouth; put the tongue out of the mouth and in the corners of the mouth; close your eyes tightly and make faces in front of a mirror; raise your eyebrows, frowning; blow, and if possible whistle a song; repeat the vowels A, E, I, O, U, humming.

This set of exercises is indicated to combat the immobility syndrome, which arises due to the restriction to the armchair or bed for a prolonged time, which can cause skin atrophy, pressure ulcers, loss of muscle mass, deep vein thrombosis, urinary retention, infection urinary, constipation, anxiety, depression, delirium and insomnia. In addition to these exercises it is also important to perform other exercises that focus on balance and flexibility

When not to do the exercises with the bedridden person

It is contraindicated to do the exercises when the person bedridden:

You have just eaten because you may vomit; you have just taken some medicine that causes drowsiness. You have a fever because exercise may increase the temperature, you have high or unregulated blood pressure because it may rise even more or when the doctor does not authorize for any other reason.

You should try to do the exercises in the morning, when the patient is wide awake and if the pressure rises during the exercises, you should stop the exercise and do the first breathing exercise until the pressure returns to normal.