Haydee's AlterG Success Story

​The AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill is a resource we utilize every day in our clinics at Spine & Rehab Specialists. We love using this piece of technology to help our patients get better and we know they enjoy it as well! One of our patients in particular, Haydee, has taken a liking to the AlterG.
 
Haydee suffered two brain hemorrhages in late 2017 and came to us in early 2022 after having been without physical therapy since 2019. Since being out of physical therapy, Haydee and her brother have practiced different exercises for her legs like squats and routine walking. Haydee uses a wheel chair and while she is now able to walk with walker, she still required the assistance of another person at the time or else she would lose her balance very easily.
 
When she came for her first visit, her goals for her physical therapy included improving her balance and hip strength. We are more than happy to say that because of the hard work from Haydee, her physical therapist and our other staff, and the use of the AlterG, she has been able to accomplish that and more!
 
“With Haydee’s condition she has some limitations with her legs, this makes it hard for her to place one foot in front of the other. It’s a big part of why her balance was off” Haydee’s physical therapist, Anthony Durant, PT, DPT, Cert. MDT, FMSK, said. “The AlterG has allowed us to place her in a secure environment so that she doesn’t have to worry about falling. It also allows us to sort of “unweight” her to a certain percentage so that she can walk freely and really concentrate on her coordination.”
 
Haydee’s favorite part of the AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill is pretty obvious, the Anti-Gravity! She also enjoys utilizing the gait training and camera features to monitor and make adjustments to her walk. When asked about the Anti-Gravity aspect of the AlterG, Haydee responds “that’s the best part. That’s what makes me walk better.”
 
Haydee has used the AlterG on almost every visit she has had with us and is most definitely a fan, not only of the Anti-Gravity Treadmill, but of a certain technician here at Spine & Rehab Specialists as well. “It’s been about five months since we’ve been coming and she uses it [the AlterG] every time,” said Haydee’s brother Carlos. “She loves working with Roger on it too, he always has really good exercises for her.” “He pushes me” said Haydee. “I like it [and] feel stronger, I’m going to keep coming.”
 
“She always tries to use the gait because it shows the levels and it can tell her when something is wrong, and she switches between that and the camera to see what the problem is” her brother Carlos recalls. Haydee also uses the weight displacement and stride features to make sure she is walking correctly, she never hesitates to take full advantage of all the features the AlterG has to offer!
 
After a few months of being consistent in her therapy and her use of the AlterG, Haydee started to get stronger and was getting closer and closer to accomplishing her goals. She’s now progressed to the point where she’s able to walk with her walker without any assistance, which proved to be a challenge for her before. “It’s [the AlterG] really propelled her walking and she’s gotten to the point where her family now feels safe with her walking with the walker by herself where before it was a bit more complicated,” said Durant, PT, DPT, Cert. MDT, FMSK. “Now you can just watch her and she can pretty much do it on her own. Without the AlterG I don’t think it would have been possible to achieve that kind of feat” he continued.
 
We are more than proud of how far Haydee has come and we feel lucky to have been able to provide her with the right tools to help her achieve her goals. Thank you for trusting us Haydee, we will always have a spot for you in the AlterG and our hearts!

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