Graded Exposure
There are times when dealing with pain conditions where exercise programs fail to achieve the results patients hope for. This is because pain is complicated and cannot be reduced to a grade of tissue damage alone. Graded exposure is a form of rehabilitation, which helps people in pain to gradually increase their function and tolerance to movement or activities.
What does this involve?
- Helping a patient to understand physical, psychological and social triggers and how these are interdependent.
- Optimising the rehab environment and being holistic and strategic about the approach to rehabilitation.
A person who can barely look upon, let alone touch a painful foot may need to lay some foundations in terms of tissue desensitization and prepare themselves to engage in rehabilitation. Graded Exposure requires a lot of patience and the development of trust between patient and therapist. Here at Merseyside Health, we understand the complexity and need for flexibility in dealing with this type of rehabilitation. Therefore, additional therapy time can be arranged for more complex cases.
Components of graded exposure
- Biopsychosocial model of care
- Multidisciplinary team working
- Psychologically informed therapy staff
- Desensitisation techniques
- Graded exercise exposure to movement and stimulus
- Strong therapeutic alliance between clinical staff and patients
- Shared decision making
