Viral Weakness

Viral Weakness

Viruses can cause many symptoms in the human body, amongst them are those affecting the musculo-skeletal system, or muscles and joints. Ask anyone who has suffered with 'flu' caused by the influenza virus. It is debilitating and painful. It takes its toll especially on the weak and infirm. Even for the normally healthy, simple everyday things like standing from sitting are problematic.

Today I have treated an elderly gentleman who has been diagnosed with a viral illness. It has over the past six weeks affected his mobility. He has been suffering pain in his thighs and calves on walking, getting up from sitting and on attempting to climb stairs.

Symptoms

He reports that the symptoms are very slowly easing but he is still severely affected in his functional ability. On examination he was essentially normal apart from possibly slightly weak in his lower limb muscles as a whole. It was difficult to tell how marked this was because he was still within what I would call acceptabtle limits for someone of his age.

Rehabilitation

Having seen symptomology like this before my experience told me that the best way forward would be a simple rehabilitation program consisting initially of a couple of strengthening exercises and a couple of functional activities. The idea being to increase the number and duration of these gradually over the coming weeks.

This last bit is important as it is paramount in such cases, in my experience, to only progress as the body will allow. Recovery from such illnesses can take many months and attempts to push the process faster than the bnody will allow inevitably ends in fatigue and delay. Far better to work at a sub maximal level whilst gently pushing the boundaries and makng steady rather than amazing progress.

The exercises I chose were simple bridging in lying and supported half squats in standing together with a regular and graduated walking and stairs program.