If you’ve ever had a serious injury, you know all about the difficulties of rehab. The doctors, the therapists, the uncomfortable exercises and the exhausting regimen of holding yourself up on bars, struggling with crutches, or lifting weights with atrophied muscles. It sucks.

Enter the video game.

The Chaim Sheba Rehabilitation Hospital near Tel Aviv is one of only a dozen centers worldwide that have expanded their list of methods for helping patients regain the use of their muscles to include the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment – basically, a glorified video-game. Instead of spending time shuffling around the halls on his walker, one patient with partially paralyzed legs works on his muscles while standing on a virtual raft that he must navigate down an obstacle-filled river. The idea is that forcing patients to use their injured muscles in a video game simulation will not only help them to heal faster, but will even keep their spirits up because they will be entertained. Forget the frustrations of slow progress – now it’s nothing more than the frustration of not having made it past level 3.

And your mom thought that playing those games was rotting your brain.

Those who have been using the CARE system for more serious injuries say that not only is rehab more fun, they also are more distracted from the pain. Doctors say that the training is more intensive, works the injured muscles more thoroughly, and generally makes it easier for a patient to get through his or her session.

And forget the simple joy of winning a game – how about being able to walk again?

Read more about it here.

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