Orbiter takes the shock out of exercise, while delivering a natural
feeling walking and running experience, with a greater aerobic
workout, often without the pain that can become associated with
normal walking and running exercise.
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Work
EQUIPPED
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Extinguishing Pain On
Treadmills
Orbiter Treadmill Has An
Over-Air Running Surface That Helps Patients Run
Pain-Free
Michael. Mullin, ATE, PTA
Most incidents of antalgia are due
to the ballistic force of heal strike that cause discomfort
and subsequent alterations of normal movement patterns. Once
this component is eliminated, the true pathology can be
addressed.
This feature helped one runner who
underwent anterior cruciate reconstruction. When trying to
run on the ground, she experienced pain.
This discomfort caused her to have
poor mechanics. However when running on the Orbiter low
impact treadmill, the patient's adaptive patterns were
eliminated, and her gluteal weakness became more
apparent.
The slight give of the belt also
allows patients to use the smaller intrinsic muscles of the
foot and lower leg, which help improve stabilization and
proprioception of the entire lower extremity.
Pain is often a smoke signal that
indicates injury. People fear it and will avoid activities
that cause pain, even during rehabilitation. That's why
therapists need to choose equipment that can help, not heed,
progress.
The ORBITER Treadmill promotes this
kind of progress. Unlike traditional treadmills, the ORBITER
has a suspended-over-air running surface, which helps
eliminate the pain associated with injury. It reduces shock
because there's no hard deck to stress joints.
This suspended surface allowed one
professional ski racer to get back on the slopes after
undergoing articular cartilage slurry transplant surgery on
her knee.
Ordinarily, she would have not been
able to train on the ground or on a treadmill because of
shock attenuation. But she could with the Orbiter treadmill,
which is manufactured by the Texas based company.
After four months of light
workouts, gait training, cardiovascular /Fartlek training
(which incorporates bouts of changes of intensity of
training during one workout session), hill walking,
proprioceptive work and graded load transmission, she was
able to train for her next ski competition, which she
won.
Getting on Their Feet
This suspended design also encourages proper muscle firing
patterns, which are essential for nor- ~ mal gait, by
reducing shock onto the ' skeletal structures, thus
allowing soft Q tissue to contract properly.
Because the pain is reduced,
therapists can identify abnormalities in patient gait.
The Orbiter treadmill has a suspended-over-air surface
reduces such as compensation during shock on patients'
joints.
Orbiter also gives an added
benefit: a challenging cardiovascular workout. The
trampoline-like surface of promotes more Oxygen uptake than
ordinary treadmills, according to a study published in the
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation. And patients who
haven't been able to run in years enjoy getting a
cardiovascular workout.
This cardiovascular workout helped
keep a 36-year-old runner in shape after she broke her leg
and sustained a dislocated ankle fracture in a car accident.
For 10 years the patient walked with an antalgic gait and
could walk only a few blocks at a time.
But with the aid of the Orbiter
treadmill's low impact surface, she walked without limping
and didn't experience any pain. She returned to a pain-free,
smooth gait for the majority of the day, She even began
running on the Orbiter so she wouldn't miss out on one of
her favorite hobbies - running.
Orbiter has helped many patients do
the things they enjoy like take in the park or power walking
with friends. By eliminating the shock of ordinary
treadmills, Orbiter treadmills get them back on their feet
faster without the searing blaze of pain.
1. Williams, J. S., Hone, L., &
Carter, R. (1992). Oxygen Cost and Heart Rate Response
During Treadmill Walking on Soft Platform Belt. Journal of
Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, 12(2),413-417.
Michael J Mullin, ATC, PTA, is
coordinator of rehabilitatian services at The Stone Clinic,
San Francisco, California.
ADVANCE FOR DIRECTORS IN
REHABILITATION
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