Dancing Their Way to Rehabilitation: Unconventional Rehabilitation Methods Following a Spinal Cord Injury

Nick Avgerinos

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As Personal Injury Attorney Steve Lombardi has recently written, spinal cord injury rehabilitation has changed drastically in the past 50 years. As technology has developed, unconventional methods of physical therapy are being tested. For example, one medical center in India has introduced music and dance as a healing tool for its patients. As one article describes, music fills the corridors of the medical center. The long-term effectiveness of this therapy is unknown, but the immediate effects include improved muscle strength, as well as improvements in confidence and mood.

Some have suggested that music therapy provides numerous benefits in everyday life. Referred to as the Mozart effect, many believe that listening to Mozart’s music in early childhood will help advance mental development. Musicologists have also found that music can lower blood pressure or calm the body. Now, experts are looking toward music to help assist in rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries.

The American Journal of Dance Therapy suggests that music with “sound improvisation and imagery” in particular helps with the rehabilitation process. Others have suggested that rhythmic music is particularly therapeutic. However, whatever the type of music, many have suggested that this untraditional method of therapy is something that should continue to be explored.