- Marty Josey McLeod Darlington Rehabilitation
More than 1 million people in the United States live with Parkinson's disease, a progressive disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement. Additionally, the disease affects approximately16 percent of the general population over 65 years of age.
With Parkinson’s disease, there are movement-related and non-movement-related symptoms.
Often, the non-movement symptoms are apparent years before the movement symptoms. Non-movement symptoms include loss of smell, constipation, dizziness and trouble swallowing. Physical symptoms include rigidity, difficulty moving, stooped posture, slow moves, tremors, balance and posture issues and difficulty swallowing and speaking.
Although there is not a cure for Parkinson’s disease, it can be managed with therapy, surgical options and medicine.
One of the most important aspects of managing Parkinson’s disease is therapy, which keeps the patient active and can help prevent secondary orthopedic problems that might develop over time with the disease.
There are three types of rehabilitative therapy for the Parkinson’s patient: occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy. Physical therapy and occupational therapy work with individuals to normalize movement patterns, which leads to an increased quality of life. Speech therapy focuses on improving a patient's voice, communication skills and swallowing.
Therapy helps to slow the progression of Parkinson's symptoms. Exercise stimulates new brain pathways that improve movement. Quite often during therapy we use three terms: big, large amplitude, loud voice. We encourage over-exaggeration of movements to reduce the risk of falls. This therapy helps teach the patient the amount of required effort to produce more normal movements.
Repetitions of vigorous voice and body exercises are found to improve an individual's function and prevent musculoskeletal impairments. Exercise also minimizes other complications such as tremors, heart disease, pain, decreased voice and difficulty swallowing.
It has been found that therapy requires a patient to attend four sessions per week. At McLeod, we offer individual therapy sessions as well as group sessions.
Patients who experience a period of inactivity often have an increase in symptoms that is associated with the lack of exercise. Completing a home voice and body program every day helps alleviate symptoms. The patient and caregiver are given handouts and shown demonstrations of the home program.
Each individual’s success is defined differently. Small steps can add up over time to make tremendous gains. The earlier a patient can start a therapy program, the better the outcomes will be for their quality of life, but it is never too late to start.
A referral from a physician, family nurse practitioner or physician assistant is required to schedule an evaluation.
Marty Josey is a physical therapist at McLeod Darlington Rehabilitation. She can be reached at 843-777-1134.
http://www.scnow.com/living/health/article_4bdd7f62-7ae1-11e7-be2c-c38f48a1f987.html
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