What Is Graded Motor Imagery (GMI) at Cedar Hill Physical Therapy?
Graded Motor Imagery (GMI) is a specific type of Guided Imagery. GMI is based on the latest science and clinical trials. It is used to treat many complex pain and movement problems including Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), Phantom Limb Pain (PLP), Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), osteoarthritis, stiffness, stroke, and chronic back and neck pain.
Pathways explains “Graded Motor Imagery (GMI) is used for complex pain and movement problems. It’s a process of training your brain away from pain using specific imagery (imagined or real). Simply imagining moving a painful part of your body, pain-free, helps to train your brain to stop creating pain.”
If you or a loved one are dealing with one of these conditions, Cedar Hill Physical Therapy in Greensboro, NC may be able to provide relief through GMI therapy. Contact our clinic today to learn more about the benefits of Graded Motor Imagery and how it may help you.
What to expect with GMI at Cedar Hill Physical Therapy
The nervous system is plastic, meaning it is capable of changing over time in response to our thoughts and actions. Guided Imagery has the potential to “rewire” the brain to decrease the association of movement with pain. It can help treat several problems related to pain and movement.
According to gradedmotorimagery.com, GMI is broken down into three separate stages: Left/right discrimination, explicit motor imagery, and mirror therapy.
Left/right discrimination involves the ability to differentiate one side of the body as distinct from the other side. “Left/right judgment tasks are required to fall within a certain range of speed (average response time in seconds) and accuracy (percentage of correct answers) to be considered as ‘normal’.”
Explicit motor imagery is the process of imagining your movements before you actually do them. For instance, before you make a meal, you might imagine yourself pulling ingredients out of the fridge. Before you get dressed, you might imagine what your completed outfit will look like. When we imagine movements, we use similar brain areas as we do when we make movements. This exercises the brain first, and the body second.
Mirror therapy utilizes a mirror to “trick” the brain into believing the weaker, less dominant body part is moving. This kind of therapy can be used for the hands, feet, legs, and other parts of the body as well.
A licensed and skilled therapist at Cedar Hill Physical Therapy in Greensboro, NC can help you to determine if GMI could benefit you or add to your current therapy program.
Contact our clinic today
Cedar Hill Physical Therapy is happy to help with any pain condition you or a loved one may be dealing with. If you believe GMI therapy may be beneficial for you, or you would like to learn more about the ways this method works for patients with chronic pain conditions, contact our Physical Therapy clinic in Greensboro, NC today to set up an appointment.
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