Early Passive Range of Motion: Advancing Therapeutic Influences Superior to Pendulums

Earlier in August, we were fortunate enough to meet Dan Miller, PT MS. Dan is the President of Rehab Innovations, Inc, and creator of the UE Ranger. The UE Ranger was developed out of a necessity to provide a clinical tool that can most efficiently deliver for both the patient and the treating therapist. It provides the therapeutic influences requirements of restoring movement health, amidst the multitude of physical impairments that can delay the healing and functional recovery processes. Dan gives us some insights on how this innovative tool offers an alternative to traditional pendulums.

Early Passive Range of Motion: Advancing Therapeutic Influences Superior to Pendulums

Since the 1930's Codman's Pendulums have not only become the first thought for passive range of motion exercise of the shoulder but historically have been the primary option available to post-operative patients. As therapists, we all know the benefits of early motion but we also know the shortcomings associated with pendulums. After intensive efforts to teach patients how to correctly perform them, most often patients fail in executing the intended relaxed motion of a pendulum - ultimately missing the mark of any measurable therapeutic benefit. Additionally, there are the patients who suffer from a history of lower back pain or orthostatic hypotension who are potentially fearful, guarded and in pain and are not going to be able to utilize pendulums. Further, changes in health care are placing growing demands on both the patient and care providers to reach optimal effectiveness and efficiencies per therapeutic effort encouraging a profession-wide opportunity to closely scrutinize this long-recognized limitation of benefit. If in the early Passive Range of Motion (PROM) stage of recovery one was able to not only support the tissue healing processes and avoid adhesion formations, but also (in a manner representative of the essential foundations of movement production) support a natural resolution of both pain and swelling, would this not be an objective advancement for both our profession and our patients? Therapists working with such persons recognize there is a fine line between therapeutically influencing movement health recovery versus perpetuating substitutions and compensations. These new therapeutic capacities are setting the stage for further efficiencies to be realized in the subsequent Active Assistive Range of Motion (AAROM) stage of recovery through a re-balancing of the habitually compensatory muscles and the foundational neuro-motor communications of subsequent movement production. The UE Ranger mimics functional movement patterns while reorganizing a balanced gleno-humeral relation that:

• Proprioceptively supports pain-free mobility
• Decreases swelling and inflammation
• Neurologically provides subtle yet meaningful core influences of foundational motor control
• Offers multi-plane exploration and graded progressions of motion recovery
• Offers pre-manual relaxation warm up and post-manual integrative carryover
• Relaxes the typically hypertonic muscles, such as the Upper Trapezius, Levator Scapulae, Scalenes, and Anterior Deltoid

These capacities are consistently being demonstrated in the clinic and validated in 2 independent research studies: Innovation compatible with both movement health and therapeutic principles offers new alternatives to pendulums – check out the versatile capacities of the UE Ranger and explore how it can easily become an extension of your own knowledge and skills. www.ueranger.com Dan S. Miller, PT, MS