What to do if muscle atrophy

Muscles play an integral role in our human body. For example, when you hold a book in your hand, play badminton, run, play table tennis, etc., or do some sports or daily habits, muscles play a very important role. However, some people will develop muscle lesions due to irregular diet or some bad physical conditions, which will cause the loss of some muscle-related functions and lead to some symptoms of deficiency in the human body. So let us understand what to do about muscle atrophy.

1. Treatment

1. Standardize rehabilitation exercise therapy

Patients with limb movement disorders caused by muscle atrophy can significantly reduce or alleviate the sequelae of paralysis through regular exercise therapy.

Some people mistakenly view exercise therapy as something very simple, or even equate it with "exercise". They are eager for quick results, often getting half the result with twice the effort, and causing joint and muscle injuries, fractures, shoulder and hip pain, increased spasms, abnormal spasm patterns and abnormal gait, as well as foot drop and inversion, which is known as "misuse syndrome".

Rehabilitation treatment for the patient's joint range of motion, muscle tone, and coordination between antagonists should not be neglected, lest the patient's muscle strength returns to normal but abnormal movement patterns remain.

2. Emphasize muscle coordination training

Inappropriate muscle strength training can aggravate spasticity, while appropriate rehabilitation training can relieve such spasticity and make limb movements more coordinated. Once the wrong training method is used, such as repeatedly practicing forceful grasping with the affected hand, the flexor coordination of the affected upper limb will be strengthened, aggravating the spasm of the muscles responsible for joint flexion, causing elbow flexion, wrist pronation, and finger flexion deformities, making it more difficult to restore hand function. In fact, muscular atrophy and limb movement disorders are not just a problem of muscle weakness. The incoordination of muscle contraction is also an important cause of movement dysfunction. Therefore, we should not mistake rehabilitation training for strength training.

3. Other treatments

Low-frequency or medium-frequency electrical stimulation, neurotrophic drugs, combined with acupuncture/electroacupuncture and massage.

2. Self-regulation

In addition to seeking medical treatment, self-treatment is very important for patients with muscular dystrophy:

1. Maintain an optimistic and happy mood

Intense, long-term or repeated mental stress, anxiety, irritability, pessimism and other emotional changes can cause an imbalance in the excitation and inhibition processes of the cerebral cortex and promote the development of muscular atrophy.

2. Rationally adjust the diet structure

Patients with muscular atrophy need high-protein, high-energy dietary supplements to provide the substances necessary for the reconstruction of nerve cells and skeletal muscle cells in order to enhance muscle strength and grow muscles. In the early stage, they should adopt high-protein foods rich in vitamins, phospholipids and trace elements, and actively cooperate with qi-invigorating and spleen-strengthening medicinal foods, such as yam, astragalus, white lotus, tangerine peel, pseudostellaria, lily, etc., avoid spicy foods, and quit smoking and drinking. For patients in the middle and late stages, a high-protein, high-nutrition, energy-rich semi-liquid and liquid diet is the main diet, and small and frequent meals are adopted to maintain the patient's nutrition and water and electrolyte balance.

3. Combine work and rest

Avoid forced functional exercise, because forced functional exercise will cause skeletal muscle fatigue, which is not conducive to the recovery of skeletal muscle function, regeneration and repair of muscle cells.