Health + Wellbeing Feature ► Grant Howells
▲ Chloe and her mum Nancy Dent
THE MIRACULOUS MOLLII SUIT
Giving Hope to Sufferers WORDS NATHALIE CRAIG CHRONIC PAIN SUFFERERS ARE FINDING SOME RELIEF, THOSE WITH MOTOR DISABILITIES ARE MOVING MORE FREELY, ATHLETES ARE FINE-TUNING THEIR PERFORMANCE, AND IT’S ALL THANKS TO ONE REVOLUTIONARY INVENTION, THE MOLLII SUIT. The Mollii Suit – an innovative therapeutic garment, which was first launched in Sweden in 2010, has been brought right here to the Hunter after being imported to Australia and New Zealand by Maitland-based company Métier Medical Limited. The electro-stimulation suit was created by Swedish chiropractor Fredrik Lundqvist who was working to help rehabilitate patients with neurological disabilities, at the time. He experimented with putting electro-stimulation into clothing to help treat people with cerebral palsy, stroke, spinal cord injury, acquired brain damage and other diagnoses that lead to motor disabilities. The Mollii Suit then appeared on Sweden’s Dragons’ Den, where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to five potential investors. All five investors were in after they witnessed the way the suit increased the mobility of a young girl with cerebral palsy. The comfortable two-piece suit looks a bit like a wetsuit with a zipper down the front. It has a detachable control unit which can be programmed to activate up to 58 electrodes 30 | www.intouchmagazine.com.au
embedded in the suit. The suit emits a mild, low-frequency electro-stimulation programmed explicitly to the needs of the individual. It is designed to trigger reciprocal inhibition, the body’s own reflex, to reduce the tension in the spastic muscle and to help voluntary movement. This helps relax spastic, tense and aching muscles improving mobility, balance and blood circulation and achieving pain relief. The suit is designed to be worn every day or every second day for one hour at a time. Grant Howells, CEO of Maitland’s Métier Medical Limited, said the opportunity to work with the creators of the Mollii Suit had been nothing short of a privilege. “Métier Medical is proud to bring to Australia this revolutionary neurorehabilitation device with the potential to change lives,” he said. Grant said he first came across the Mollii Suit during a trip to the UK in 2015, and it totally blew him away. “In a UK hospital, there was a guy who had been hit by a car and had a spinal injury,” Grant explained. “He was in a wheelchair, and he couldn’t walk without being supported. After being in the suit for an hour, he pretty much got out of the wheelchair by himself,” he said. “Straightaway, I thought, we’ve got to take this to Australia”. Shortly after this experience, Grant flew to Sweden to find out more about the Mollii Suit.
After seeing the amazing results the Mollii Suit could achieve, Grant knew it was his mission to market the suit back home, and Métier Medical now has the rights to the suit in Australia and New Zealand. “I’m probably biased, but the Mollii Suit is the most amazing thing I’ve come across in my whole life. I’ve never cried so much in my life as I have in the last five years, seeing the results people have with the suit,” Grant said. A local example of the suit making a difference to a person's quality of life can be seen in Newcastle woman Kristi Durrance. Kristi suffered a brainstem stroke in February 2018 that has significantly impacted her movement and speech. As part of her therapy, Kristi trialled the Mollii Suit for two months for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. “I noticed my legs were bending much better, my grip with my hands was much better, and my sleep was much better,” she said. After the trial ended, Kristi noticed these improvements slip away again. Luckily she was able to secure a Mollii Suit for herself in November 2020, which she now wears for an hour each day. As soon as she started using the Mollii Suit again, Kristi’s “severe back pain went away overnight”. “I sleep 9 to 5 each night. Prior to the suit, I would sleep terribly; I’d just lay there,” she said. Another woman whose life has been positively impacted by the Mollii Suit is Nancy Dent from Wallabadah in regional NSW. Her daughter Chloe was diagnosed with a Global Functional Disability very early in her life, leaving her in unknown territory. She didn’t take her first step until she was over two and her cognitive ability was impaired. Nancy said it wasn't until Chloe first tried the Mollii Suit in 2018 that things truly started to change for her. “Chloe will be turning ten next week, and I am very grateful for the Mollii Suit,” she said. “In the last three months, her reading and writing have improved at school, her speech is clearer, and she is able to put more words together,” Nancy said. F
