One of the most recognizable physical manifestations of PD is something I call the "Parkinson's Stance". It is that classic C-shaped stoop, combined with claw-like hands out in front. The "conventional" wisdom indicates that this is the ultimate fate of People with Parkinson's. It does seem to be widely accepted, with a shrug of the shoulders - by those who can shrug them - that this is our ultimate destiny. Yet the absolutely terrible posture of the Parkinson's Stance is a serious health risk in its own right and I believe we need to seriously begin challenging the "wisdom" that this is how we have to end up. Or at least demonstrate that it is well worth doing whatever we can every day to delay the onset for as long as possible.
We all know that bad posture = bad health and that this is a very vicious cycle under any circumstances. For PwP, the Stance is a very vicious thing indeed. It amplifies the symptoms of PD greatly and represents a self-accelerating decline. Just think about it. We all know how bad spending hours hunched over a computer keyboard is for us. The long term consequences of ignoring typing posture are serious. Carpal tunnel and thoracic outlet syndrome being just two examples. So imagine how bad for health standing or sitting in the Parkinson's Stance is for any length time. Now consider what this does to the wellness of a human body when the Stance becomes a semi-permanent state.
I have been very fortunate to catch this early, thanks to my co-founder Deb, who has a keen interest in posture correction. Deb showed me some very simple techniques which i could implement even when quite immobile. Deb taught me one such technique in particular which I have been practicing daily as shown in the video clip from 3rd February 2016.
Thanks to this intervention, I have stopped stooping into the Parkinson's Stance, unless very stressed. And the change was quite quick. After a few weeks of practicing posture correction techniques, I was delighted when Deb compared a snapshot of me with an online photo of perfect posture of someone without chronic illness simply standing and she gave me a grin and a big thumbs up.
I urge all People with Parkinson's to consider that this is a priority health area to address. It is possible to take corrective and preventative steps against the Stance. My own experience does show that it is possible have dramatic effects with daily persistence.
So let's do everything we can to make the Stance a much less recognizable aspect of PD.
For our own sakes.
Transcript
Hi, it’s Dr Gary Sharpe, it’s Feb 3rd 2016.
I’m in a state of bradykinesia again, and today I want to talk to you about posture.
So one of the main symptoms of PD is that long term your body gets pulled into a C-shape. You crouch over, and you can’t really see this but my hands are… if I can get them up… my hands are claw like and in front of me. And it’s very hard to get my shoulders back.
Not good for you and not good for your balance
The main symptom, the body gets pulled into this C-shape. And for me the pain, the pain and stiffness, is right across the shoulders at the back, and it can be very painful.
One thing we have been thinking about in our Out-Thinking Parkinson’s Series is how can we correct this, I can’t correct it myself because my brain isn’t allowing me to move my muscles in such a way that I can get my shoulders back.
I found this, a metal tube, just a hollow metal [aluminium] tube. If I can just get this into the crook of my shoulders {elbows}, then it corrects the posture quite well. So it’s just sitting there, it’s not painful. Now my shoulders are back, and I can actually relax my arms. This stops me going into a C-shape, so it’s countering what the Parkinson’s wants to do.
I’m finding the more I do this, the easier I can correct myself without the aid of the external bar, but I tend to do this quite a lot when I’m in a state of bradykinesia, because it relaxes some of the muscles, it prevents some of the pain. And I can sit down like this for quite a while. And again my shoulders are back. I can even correct these claw like hands by putting my fingers together and that’s quite a relief as well.
So I can walk around like this, and at the moment I’m shuffling, because I’m not being mindful, I’m shuffling around, but I find that this also, if I’m actually mindful of the walking, I can walk normally, easier. You can’t really see this but I’m going to take big steps. Parkinson’s people should not be able to do that very easily. I can do it. It’s because I think, because my posture is good, my whole kinetic chain is improved, so instead of my body feeling like it’s going to fall over, it feels safer, so it let’s me take big steps. There you go.
So there seems to be a cumulative effects of doing this, of just holding myself in this position. Essentially I can get my hands down behind me, on the back of my thighs, which is pretty hard to do normally in Parkinson’s. Can’t really see but… I’ll walk again. So I just walk around like this and just walk around and it is quite a relief on some of the pain of that goes with Parkinson’s.
I hope it is going to have a long term effect on correcting my posture
So stay tuned.
Look, I can even push the button there.