Enhancing Movement During Rehab With The Pulse Device
The Pulse Device can be a great add to your walking to help build your connection with each step. This routine guides you through the optimal settings depending on what you’re after, as well as helping you figure out which muscle to focus on.
To provide more clarity, our device is commonly used while walking around and while performing basic rehabilitative movements/exercises. When it comes to movement, we recommend using our device for up to an hour per session. You can absolutely go on longer walks while wearing our device, but you shouldn’t use it 24/7 because of a concept called neural fatigue, which is when your mind and body gets used to the vibrations and loses perception of them. As a result, the research and testing suggests that local vibration therapy actually works best in smaller bouts. With that said, we have users that swear by our device and use it for an hour or two at a time while walking around, taking out the dog, or moving around the house. We’ve found that many of these users end up getting the same results when implementing our device only 3-5x a week. Please note that you can still wear the device comfortably while it’s offline, so if you want to use it for a bit and then turn it off, or turn it on towards the end of a walk or work day when you’re starting to feel fatigued, that works great too!
1. Settings
a.) General Use Setting
Setting Used: Rehab -> Motor Function -> Pick Your Specific Case
These settings can help you to activate the muscle and enhance your movement. No need to time or focus on the vibration for these settings.
b.) Gait Training Setting
Setting Used: Performance-Guided Reps Type 2 & 3
These settings are designed to help activate the muscle and help your brain in connecting with the muscles. For these settings you want to time each step with the vibration.
Start with type 2 and then move to type 3 as you get more comfortable walking faster.
2. Duration
Only use the device for 15 minutes to 1 hour at a time. You can use the device again after resting for at least an hour.
We recommend using the (a) settings up to 3-5x a week, but they can be used everyday if beneficial, and the (b) settings can be used 2-4 times a week.
3. Placements
a.) Straightening the Knee (Quadricep)
If straightening the knee is challenging at all or walking downhill, the quadricep is the likely culprit.
b.) Pushing Off the Ground (Calves)
If you struggle to accelerate or walking uphill follow this placement.
c.) Instability at Hips (Front Hip Flexor)
If you feel unstable where your hips connect with your torso. This placement also helps the muscle that helps to lift your leg.
d.) Foot Drop
For foot drop you want to focus on the tibialis anterior. To the right is the placement for two devices on one leg. For more placements and more foot drop related exercises go to the foot drop routine.
