What it is
A short, honest summary.
- —An autoimmune attack on the peripheral nerves, often triggered by a recent infection.
- —Weakness typically ascends from feet upward, may affect breathing and swallowing in severe cases.
- —Acute phase requires hospital monitoring; recovery phase is where physiotherapy lives.
What families notice
The signals worth taking seriously.
- 01Tingling or weakness starting in the feet, spreading upward
- 02Loss of reflexes (a clinical sign, but families notice 'jelly legs')
- 03Difficulty walking or climbing stairs
- 04In severe cases: breathing difficulty, swallowing trouble
- 05Pain — often underappreciated, frequently severe
My approach
How the work is structured.
- —Early-phase passive movement, positioning, and respiratory care.
- —Gradual strengthening as nerves remyelinate — without exhausting the recovering tissue.
- —Gait retraining and endurance work through the months-long recovery.
- —Pain management and fatigue pacing as central pillars of the programme.
What recovery looks like
A plain-language picture.
“Most people make a strong recovery over 6 to 18 months. A meaningful minority have residual fatigue or weakness; targeted physiotherapy continues to help these too.”
FAQ
Common questions, answered briefly.
- Why does recovery take so long?
- Nerves regrow at roughly 1 mm per day. Distal recovery (feet, hands) is genuinely slow biology — not poor effort.
- Will I be back to normal?
- Most people are, or close to it. The work doesn't change the underlying biology, but it determines how well you use what returns.
For clinicians
Clinical detail, assessment and evidence.
Clinical summary
The picture in clinician register.
GBS is an acute immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy, often post-infectious, with ascending weakness and areflexia; respiratory and autonomic involvement define the acute risk. Rehabilitation spans the acute phase (positioning, respiratory care, gentle range) and recovery, with strengthening graded to remyelination and explicit fatigue and neuropathic-pain management.
Terminology
Terms worth being precise about.
- Areflexia
- Loss of deep tendon reflexes — a hallmark clinical sign.
- Demyelinating vs axonal subtype
- Subtype influences the pace and completeness of recovery.
- Autonomic dysfunction
- Blood-pressure and rhythm instability in the acute phase — a safety concern.
- Plateau phase
- The stabilisation period before recovery begins.
Assessment & measures
What the first sessions measure.
- —GBS disability scale; MRC sum score.
- —Respiratory function in the acute phase.
- —Functional, gait, fatigue and neuropathic-pain measures in recovery.
Red flags
Signs that need urgent escalation.
- Rapidly ascending weakness, breathlessness, or bulbar signs — acute respiratory and autonomic risk; emergency.
- Blood-pressure or cardiac-rhythm instability.
Referral & MDT
When and to whom to refer.
Acute neurology / intensive care in the early phase. Ongoing neurology; pain management; occupational therapy and vocational rehabilitation in recovery.
Evidence
References and guideline anchors.
- Graded strengthening through GBS recovery — PLACEHOLDER — verify against current guidelines before launch.