FES stands for a bunch of things. When I googled ‘FES,’ a whole bunch of things came up. Well, in the therapy world FES stands for functional electrical stimulation. I never had any e-stim after my stroke. It wouldn’t have helped me, I had/have no strength issues. But electrical stimulation can do a lot. I learned about FES during my unit on strokes. E-stim can build strength in a muscle/activate a muscle when it can’t be done adequately voluntarily. FES is cool. Here’s an example, we did this in school. Imagine someone with foot drop. Foot drop happens when your shin muscle doesn’t work right and your foot isn’t lifted adequately when walking and drags on the floor. This is common after a stroke. With an FES machine, you put a sensor on the bottom of your heel and an electrode pad on your shin muscle(tibialis anterior). So when that foot is stepped down upon, the sensor turns off the stimulation. At all other times the muscle is stimulated and the foot lifts so that it doesn’t drag. You can use FES in other ways too.
Related articles
- Device helps people with foot drop walk (news4jax.com)
Categories: Rehab, Stroke stuff
mycerebellarstrokerecovery 
I have the Bioness L300 for my foot and the Bioness H200 for my hand. I recommend them both.
Cool, I’m glad they help. What’s it do for your hand?
The Bioness H200 opens and closes my hand using electrical stimulation. There are several different programs which open and close my hand at different intervals. I find that it is difficult to use in a functional way for everyday activities, but it is good exercise for my hand and I can practice picking things up and releasing them. Whereas the Bioness L300 must be used in a functional way. You walk!
I have heard that their is a new wireless Bluetooth FES stimulator for dropfoot available in the UK at a fraction of the Bioness and Walkaide prices http://www.proactivebiomechanics.com