Having Control Over Your Progression

Hello to my Parkinson’s family and friends. 

Now I may be beginning to sound a little like a broken record, but I make no apology for that! 

This is vital. I sometimes, not often, come across those who are newly diagnosed and their response has been to give up; to accept this as their lot and to succumb to whatever this invader metes out to them. I want to stress today that you, yourself, even though it may be hard to believe, have enormous control over the degree of progression of your illness and in some cases, you can even begin to fight back and regain the use, the flexibility, the control over your body that PD is threatening to snatch away. 

You see apparently we have a tissue that is connected and covers our whole body. It lies between the skin and the muscle and is called the fascia. In a way, it serves to hold the body together. Without getting too detailed, David Lesondak uses the analogy that it is a little like a catsuit . 

He states that as our dopamine replacement drugs wear off , there is a nervous system stress response and the fascia can contract and stiffen and even begin to shrink. Anyone with PD will recognise this tight feeling. It is a type of feeling of the whole body shrinking, posture stoops , back hunches, toes curl in, fingers curl also and the head may be pulled low. 

=This Parkinson’s posture is often an early indicator. ( I can get like this if I forget medication or am very stressed and it is then a family member encourages me to stand straight, but it is extremely difficult until my medications kick in again or I do something to relax. ) I also used to experience such a bad dystonia and toe curl after a long night with no medication that it was impossible to walk. 

But the very good news is that THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY! 

Stress really impacts heavily on the tightening of the fascia. So it stands to reason that relaxation techniques like meditation will help to lessen this tightening. As David Lesondak has explained in the book “Out-thinking Parkinson’s”, “Longer term, all is not lost. " In fact he says that it is possible for "fascial history to be rewritten over time". 

What great news! He reinforces the importance of exercise therapies yet again. He recommends "appropriate, self-motivated or self-induced movement therapies (e.g. types of yoga, dance, exercise, sports, etc) or hands-on therapies" 

So once again the very strong message is that movement and exercise are vital. With a reduction in dopamine, we can become less motivated and more sedentary which can lead to increasing pain, rigidity and stiffness. But more regular and appropriate exercise “helps stimulate ....(and adapt ) the fascia to the movement signals, reversing some of the initial problem.” 

Now this makes enormous sense to me! Before I took an early retirement owing to my PD diagnosis, I did exercise, but once I retired, I found I had the time to put into a more intense exercise program on a daily basis. I try to mix it up and am guided to do regular strength and stretching exercises by my exercise physiologist, I do daily tai chi which builds core strength and is also meditative, I do PD Dance, once a week, which is charming, incorporates gentle exercise to music and is heaps of fun and I do some intensive PD Warrior sessions. 

I am also delighted to stride out in the cool of the day, morning or evening and enjoy nature, breath in the outdoor freshness and relish a longish hike. Now, to my amazement, some of those curling issues no longer occur. I suddenly realised that it has been years since I have awoken with my toes curling in so I can't walk! This seems a little like a miracle to me! 

I am also absolutely amazed by the increased flexibility I now have! Now you may think you are not able to begin to exercise if you have never been into exercise and you may be afraid to make a beginning, not knowing where to start. I suggest a referral to an exercise physiologist is a good place to start. Do not be discouraged. Even if in a wheelchair, many exercise classes adapt to cater for seated movements. No matter what stage you are at, it is never too late to make a beginning and there is always something you can do. 

As Theodore Roosevelt once said, 

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." 

Start today. It is amazing. 

The more you exercise, the more therapeutic you will find it. 

"Good things come to those who sweat". Anon.