Motor / Mental Imagery

Motor Imagery, also known as Mental Imagery or Mental Practice, is a simple but fascinating addition to your usual therapy. It has been used for many years now by athletes and musicians, who visualise something they want to achieve or improve in their minds.

There have been many studies into using Motor Imagery as a rehabilitation tool to improve independence and participation in everyday activities. By mentally rehearsing an activity, the same muscles we use while doing the actual activity are activated. So, the more often we practise this, the more relearning how to use our arm or leg happens when we’re doing these activities for real!

There are two types of motor imagery:

• Kinaesthetic motor imagery (KMI )is the ability to visualise the feeling associated with performing the movement.

• Visual motor imagery (VMI) is the ability to visualise the movement.

An example of motor imagery is thinking about a task such as making a hot drink. You would listen to a recording of someone describing how to make a hot drink, and in your mind, you would follow along and imagine that you are performing that task. No movement is performed as it all takes place in your mind.

I recommend that you talk with your therapist about whether Motor Imagery is suitable for you. You need to be able to concentrate for a few minutes and follow the instructions that are being given. It can be performed at any stage during the recovery process. The therapist can instruct you how often and for how long you should do it, what specific activities and movements would be best for you to practise, which activities you shouldn’t do and also change the activities as you improve.

Saebo has some Mental Imagery videos that you can listen to. You can download their Mental Imagery User manual and video clips here or download the app “SaeboMIND”. Still, you will need to sign up to access them (I would recommend this as Saebo are a fantastic company – and no, I don’t work for them!)

There are no known adverse effects of doing mental imagery, but it is recommended that you:

• Always ensure you are well-supported in your chair or bed before starting. We don’t want you falling off your chair or out of your bed.

• Never stand up or try to perform any of the activities that are being described. This exercise is purely about imagining the movements and the feeling of the movements

• It’s very common to feel very relaxed after a session, so please take extra time and care before moving off.

From this post, I hope that this inspired you to have a conversation with your therapist to ascertain whether this is a good rehabilitation tool for you or if you’re a therapist, you consider using this as an adjunct to the usual therapy tools. I hope it is, as it’s straightforward to do, low-tech and isn’t expensive, but it does have great potential to help you recover movement in your arm or leg.