Wii + Rehab = Wiihab (GALLERY)

It’s ‘Wiihabilitation’ y’all. According to a new (8 Feb) AP report , hospitals in states like Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center are all incorporating the Wii into physical therapy routines. Nintendo’s Wii video game system is fast becoming a bona-fida craze in rehab therapy for patients recovering from strokes, broken bones, surgery and even combat injuries.

Using the Wii’s unique, motion-sensitive controller, Wii games require body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises. Patients become so engrossed mentally they’re almost oblivious to the rigor and pain.

“In the Wii system, because it’s kind of a game format, it does create this kind of inner competitiveness. Even though you may be boxing or playing tennis against some figure on the screen, it’s amazing how many of our patients want to beat their opponent,” said Osborn of Herrin Hospital in Southern Illinois.

The most popular Wii games in rehab involve sports — baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis. Using the same arm swings required by those sports, players wave a wireless controller that directs the actions of animated athletes on the screen. Nintendo representative Anka Dolecki said, “We are happy to see that people are finding added benefit in rehabilitation.”