Medical Conditions Treated with Prism Glasses
Other
Complex regional pain syndrome - are we neglecting neglect?
Jörn Schattschneider, Nature Clinical Practice Neurology (2007) 3, 16-17.
This article describes complex regional pain syndrome and states .... the perception of pain in CRPS can be reduced by mirror visual feedback therapy, ...
Mirror therapy in children with hemiplegia: a pilot study.
Dev Med Child Neurol. 2011 Mar 17
Gygax MJ, Schneider P, Newman CJ.
Source
Paediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract
Mirror therapy, which provides the visual illusion of a functional paretic limb by using the mirror reflection of the non-paretic arm, is used in the rehabilitation of hemiparesis after stroke in adults. We tested the effectiveness and feasibility of mirror therapy in children with hemiplegia by performing a pilot crossover study in ten participants (aged 6-14 y; five males, five females; Manual Ability Classification System levels: one at level I, two at level II, four at level III, three at level IV) randomly assigned to 15 minutes of daily bimanual training with and without a mirror for 3 weeks. Assessments of maximal grasp and pinch strengths, and upper limb function measured by the Shriner's Hospital Upper Extremity Evaluation were performed at weeks 0 (baseline), 3, 6 (intervention), and 9 (wash-out). Testing of grasp strength behind the mirror improved performance by 15% (p=0.004). Training with the mirror significantly improved grasp strength (with mirror +20.4%, p=0.033; without +5.9%, p>0.1) and upper limb dynamic position (with mirror +4.6%, p=0.044; without +1.2%, p>0.1), while training without a mirror significantly improved pinch strength (with mirror +6.9%, p>0.1; without +21.9%, p=0.026). This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility of mirror therapy in children with hemiplegia and that it may improve strength and dynamic function of the paretic arm.
© The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2011 Mac Keith Press.
Scientific studies
In addition to the clinical applications, the versatility of the prism glasses means that they will make an ideal research tool to investigate the physiology of phantom limb pain and stroke; they can readily be incorporated into studies involving imaging modalities like fMRI.