Mirror Therapy is an intervention frequently used to treat individuals recovering from a stroke who experience paralysis on one side of the body. The process involves the affected arm being placed inside a box out of sight, while the patient watches the reflection of their non-affect arm complete a series of exercises. The purpose of Mirror Therapy is to trick the brain into thinking the affected arm is doing the exercises and ultimately retrain the neurons in the affected arm to generate movement. Research shows that individuals who receive mirror therapy post-stroke show more improvements in functional hand movements and self-care tasks, when compared to a control group with conventional rehabilitation. It is important to remember that recovery from a stroke is often slow, but Mirror Therapy provided by one of our occupational therapists may be the key in improving upper extremity function.
Reference:
Yavuzer, G., Selles, R., Sezer, N., Sütbeyaz, S., Bussmann, J. B., Köseoğlu, F., ...&
Stam, H. J. (2008). Mirror therapy improves hand function in subacute stroke: a randomized
controlled trial. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 89(3), 393-398.