I find I can shuffle, deal, turn, tidy up, halve and gather the pack of cards. It can be quite stiff and difficult but this seems to be one of those things, like playing with my basketball, which allows me to almost always access some movement, this time for my fingers. Indeed, I find this is giving me more and more knowledge of my hands again. You can see me performing this type of exercise at the end of the video below.
Read MoreBasket Balls, Music and Reversing Symptoms of Parkinson's
I highly recommend anyone with Parkinson's get a basketball or a netball - the weight and feel matters a lot - and just play, feel, stimulate the muscle memories which are still there. Bounce, balance, catch, throw your way back to moving, every single day. Explore, play, be curious. Practice, but make sure you have fun with it. Enjoy whatever movement you can release, no matter how small. Feel good when you manage to extend your range. Feel good factor = dopamine reward = more movement = more feel good - and that is science fact. In the video I am playing by myself, the therapeutic effects are magnified by the social quotient of playing ball with family members and friends by massive amounts.
Read MoreMovement Recovery with Yo-Yo Stress Balls
Deb had the unique insight that a kind of stress ball (a squeezy, bouncy ball which fit the human hand well) which comes with an attached elastic string and a velcro finger or wrist strap would be hugely beneficial. She based this on our discoveries of how some hand-eye co-ordination movements are relatively easy for people with Parkinsonsim's. She was right!
Read MoreLearning How to Walk Again with Parkinson's Disease
.People with Parkinson's tend to shuffle when we "walk". We take very small steps, hardly lifting our feet off the floor at all. We often trip over things and lose our balance. It is part and parcel of that terrible posture, the stooped over "Parkinson's Stance", which many of us develop when we do nothing to correct it. The resulting "Parkinson's Shuffle" is an extremely inefficient way to move around and is so very tiring.
Read MoreBall Game Based Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
A very simple, but extremely effective therapy for movement recovery and progressive symptom reduction in Parkinson's Disease is to incorporate playing with balls of various types, sizes and textures. The hand-eye co-ordination and sensory feedback seems to open up access to movement considerably, presumably because it brings in other pathways and regions of the brain in to help.
Read MoreThe Dyskinesia Control Hat
This is an earlier video (from 12th February 2016) which we never fully released due to the not-so-good quality of the picture and sound. However, this week I received a tweet from Selfie4Parkinsons about a campaign to raise awareness of Parkinson's, which asks people to take a “selfie with something silly on your head” and then share it to social media. This reminded me of our Dyskinesia Control Hat concept which we had developed through self-experimentation. As I indicated in my reply to the tweet, I have something not only silly, but also quite profound on my head regularly!
Read MoreBat and Ball Therapy for Parkinson's Disease
A simple bat & ball set was just about the first thing I bought when I started exploring toys which could help me unlock movement to start pushing back my Parkinson's Disease symptoms. Once I began to play with them while my PD drugs weren't working - in an "off" state in which I didn't have my much access to movement - it was a complete revelation! The shear degree of movement that suddenly came back in just playing "keep it up" with the bat and ball was a joy, especially in terms of neck movement and core rotation. The fact that while I was doing it, much of my other symptoms (rigidity, unfocused eyes, breathing problems, pain) went away, at least in the moment of play, was massive in re-thinking about my condition, and how to live well with it.
Please Pay Attention to Your Parkinson's Posture
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.
Read MorePeople with Parkinson's: Prove You Can Move!
Perhaps we might dismiss this as a curiosity or anomaly? I assure you it is so much more than this. Having progressed from the cotton wall to a small, bouncy ball today, I can say that for me the therapeutic value is very significant. But we've figured out if I tie something onto my finger, then I can use these ideas to reach for anything... by "web-slinging" spider-man fashion. I will demonstrate and document these latter ideas in my next video diary entry. But I am now certain the potentials for developing these ideas are large and something I believe needs urgent attention by the healthcare community.
Read MoreHow A Yoga Mudra Helped Me to Control Side-Effects of Parkinson's Drugs
Right back at the start of the Out-Thinking Parkinson's project we were focused on interventions to control dyskinesia - an unfortunate side effect of the drugs prescribed to alleviate the stiffness and rigidity of Parkinson's. Since then our researches have demonstrated that the best way to prevent dyskinesia is to lower the drug burden, safely accomplished by using diet, music and movement therapy, light therapy and relaxation techniques to significantly reduce the symptoms of the disease itself.
Read MoreMoving Differently with Parkinson's Disease
In this entry, I would like to reveal to you the way my Parkinson’s Disease affects me personally, when in the “trough” of the cycle or at times when some may consider I'm in an under-medicated state. Now, it is very important to realize that “Parkinson’s Disease” is a catch-all term for many movement disorders, and everyone may be touched by it in different ways and have different responses. We usually say that someone has a “Parkinsonism” to highlight this. Also, I have the "Early Onset" form (diagnosed in my late thirties), like Michael J. Fox, who is perhaps the most famous person who was diagnosed at a young age.
Read MoreDrug Induced Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease
In this first entry, many of you will be getting a first glimpse of me and hearing my voice for the first time! But as far as first impressions go, please be warned: you might be shocked, for this was recorded purposefully when the side of effects of my medication were very acute. In fact, I often take another drug to alleviate these medication induced symptoms, so this is not my typical state. The important point to note however is that, over the course of years, without other interventions, what you see here in the initial part of the video will become a more and more frequent state for me. For those who experience such extremes with the condition on a daily basis, our total sympathy – we release this video for you.
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