Parkinsons Disease
Description
Parkinsons Disease is neurodegenerative disorder than can impact movement, speech and memory. The main part of the brain that is impacted is the basal ganglia.
Common Signs & Symptoms of Parkinsons Disease
- Tremors
- Rigidity
- Bradykinesia (slowing of movements)
- Feeling stuck or unable to move
- Gait Disturbances
- Sleep Dysfunction
Parkinsons Disease - Impact on Life
Parkinsons Disease can effect:
- Walking
- Parkinsons Disease can alter someones walking
- Parkinson’s gait consists of small, shuffling/stutter steps
- Trouble can also occur with some people feeling unable to slow down their walking or freezing and feeling stuck
- This can lead to avoiding walking and other activity
- Parkinsons Disease can alter someones walking
- Mobility
- Trouble with feeling stuck
- Reduced balance
- Decreased ability to use the stairs and sit and stand
- Increased fatigue as a result of tremors
- Balance
- Tremors and Parkinson’s gait can put people at at increase risk of falls
- Parkinson’s gait can lead to an increased level of tripping
- Other changes such as Rigidity, Shakiness and Bradykinesia will also impact balance
- Social Participation
- As a result of increased symptoms it can lead to avoiding social activities
- An increase in confidence, balance and strength can go a long way to helping increase social participation
- Sleep
- Reduced quality of sleep
- Trouble falling asleep at night
- Daytime sleepiness
How Can Exercise Physiology Help Parkinsons Disease?
Exercise Physiology can help to:
Identify what is giving you the most trouble and what is at risk of declining
- Parkinsons Disease affects your mobility, balance and strength and as a result it can reduce what you do on a day to day basis
- Factors that contribute to Parkinsons Disease and that can help to improve symptoms include:
- Mobility and ability to get in and out of a chair
- Upper body strength and difficulty carrying and lifting items
- Use of strategies to help with fatigue and freezing
- Lower body strength and difficulty of tasks involving your legs
- Increase your strength to help get up from the floor after a fall
- Improved eccentric strength and being able to slow down and control movement
- We can help to identify what is causing you the most trouble so it can be directly addressed leading to effective results and continual improvement
Identify a few key exercises that will make a big difference
- By directly addressing the key issues identified above it will lead to a much more effective intervention
- From the testing we can identify 3 exercises that will help you to improve and manage your symptoms
Work on exercises to improve your overall function and ability to participate in activities that your Parkinson’s Disease has been stopping you from doing
- Our Exercise Physiologists complete regular home visits helping people to complete a tailored set of exercises to help improve their Parkinson’s symptoms
- By having an Exercise Physiologist come to visit we are able to ensure that you are working at the right level to improve your symptoms and practice exercises that you are unable to do on your own
Show you some techniques to help manage Parkinsons Disease symptoms
- We can show you the best way to get up safely from the floor
- We can help improve your ability to use stairs
- Complete balance exercises with you that you are unable to do on your own
- We can show you some strategies to manage freezing and the feeling of getting stuck when it does happen
When To Get Help
Generally the best time to get help is as early as possible. However it is never too late to start.
A good time to get help is when you start to notice a change in your mobility and balance however exercise will still make a big difference down the track.
Where To Start
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes- we can contact you provider to organise services through your package. We are able to fit in around current budgets to provide an effective service without impacting your current plan.
Our services under the Support at Home Program do not have any copayments attached and are a fantastic preventative option that help to reduce condition progress and provide people with a way to improve their health and mobility
During our initial appointments we complete a series of tests looking at:
- Balance
- Grip Strength
- Walking
- Standing up from a chair(leg strength)
- Stair use(if possible)
- Aches and Pains
- Other relevant physical tests
These tests give us an indicator of what area needs to be addressed and helps to identify what exercises will help the most.
By prioritising a few exercises it helps to improve exercise adherence, reduce frustration and improve the reward for effort
All of these tests can be improved over time through exercise and they provide an in depth overview of someones physical condition
We will recommend the best option based on the testing results completed in the initial assessment
We see most of our clients on average either weekly or once per fortnight. However we are happy to discuss options based on individual circumstances
During an exercise physiology visit you can expect to compete a number of exercises working on improving the areas you need to improve
Initial Assessment
Questions regarding
- Medical Conditions
- Aches and Pains
- Medications
- Falls History
- Current Exercise Levels
Some tests looking at:
- Balance
- Walking
- Sitting and Standing
- Stair Use
- Grip Strength
- Aches and Pains
From this we recommend how often you would benefit from our services, plus the 3 most important exercises to improve
These tests are done every 6 weeks to monitor improvement and to identify other areas that need to be worked on
During a normal session we usually complete:
- 5-6 exercises working on improving
- These exercises are progressed over the sessions
- We update any home exercises as needed
- Practice completing harder exercises that require supervision eg balance