What are Power Plates?
Power Plate machines stimulate the body’s natural response to vibration. This vibration automatically activates muscle to contract between 30 and 50 times per second.
This significantly enhances overall muscle activation inn as little as 5-10 minutes).
Intensive Therapy with Power Plate machines creates instability in the human body causing the body to respond. The reflexive muscle actions produce positive and immediate effects on the spasticity in a child’s body. A child that is stiff will relax. A child that is floppy will tighten up. It increases the brain’s control over the child’s limbs.
How Does It Work
Power Plate is a vibrating platform that helps children with cerebral palsy attain balance, core stability and improve muscle spasticity. This machine helps relax their muscles by stimulating natural reflexes, increasing muscle activation. During the process of rehabilitation kids are asked to perform movements and strengthening activities. Simply by performing those same movements on a power plate the effectiveness will be enhanced.
Power Plate for
Cerebral Palsy
Power Plate is a great time-saver due to many muscle groups being activated at the same time. The machine vibrates up and down, side-to-side, and front-to-back, destabilising the body and promoting the reflexive engagement of soft tissue. Even just by standing on the power plate, the whole lower limb will be contracted and working at a level above and beyond what a child with cerebral palsy will be able to voluntarily achieve.
Massage on a Power Plate also helps kids improve their stretching ability and reduce muscle soreness after a workout. Stretching on a power plate has been clinically proven to reduce muscle soreness more effectively than stretching alone.
Studies Behind
Power Plate
Gusso et al, 2016, found that exercising on a vibration machine can improve muscle strength in knee extensors and decrease spasticity in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. This leads to better motor performance and walking speed.
Eid, 2015, found that vibration training for hypotonia (low muscle tone) can increase the level of resting muscle tension and improve strength. This is significantly beneficial for children with developmental delay, genetic conditions, and down’s syndrome.
There are many research articles that support the use of power plates for cerebral palsy and developmental conditions. In our clinic we have found some amazing results. Kids who could not previously stand learnt to do so. Childrens who walked on their toes ended up with flat feet. And people who were in pain found relief from the relaxing effect of vibration.
Benefits of Power Plate
Many traditional exercises can be done on the Power Plate, and the results are magnified. Power Plate provides a way for children with cerebral palsy to have a therapy session in a pain-free environment that still provides enough challenge to create positive adaptations in their body.
Increased Muscle Strength
Promotes Neural Control
Enhanced Muscle Building
Increased Bone Mass and Mineral Density
Increased Flexibility and Mobility
Improved Range of Motion
Immediate Improvement in Blood Circulation
Helped Support when Learning How to Walk
Reduced Muscle Spasticity and Pain
Success Stories
The Timmermans Method
The Timmermans Method Therapy Clinics provide intensive therapy for children with developmental conditions. Our intensive model combines multiple approaches to get results faster than previously thought possible.