I see this all the time, and it drives me crazy! People walking around with their hands in their pockets regardless of whether it’s cold out or not. What’s so bad about walking with your hands in your pockets? Two of my friends have fallen while their hands were in their pockets. One lady was hiking, one hand in her pocket, and fell and broke her nose. The other was walking in the dark after a basketball game, didn’t see the curb, and fell and broke his jaw and teeth. Both individuals were in their 20’s and did not have Parkinson’s disease.
If you are standing or sitting it’s not terrible to have a hand in your pocket, but once you start moving you should pull your hands out and swing them by your sides.
People with Parkinson’s are more likely to put a hand or two in their pockets because of a tremor. They feel like it either conceals the tremor or quiets it down. I understand the temptation, but it’s dangerous.
I’m sure you’ve experienced how it seems to take forever to get your hand into or out of your pocket when you need to answer your phone or retrieve something. Imagine flying through the air unexpectedly, and having no time to get your hands out to catch yourself. Even when your hands are free, people with PD may have a delay in reaction time.
The other reason to get your hands out of your pockets is POSTURE. When you are walking with your hands in your pockets you are hunched over. It encourages your upper back to stoop forward. The other reason is that when your hands are in your pockets your upper back is not rotating (in the video, notice the logo on the back of the sweatshirt is not moving, shoulders are rounded forward, and head is down).
With a normal walking gait, the ribs rotate in opposition of the pelvis. Arm swing is a by-product of this rotation (in the video, notice the upper back is rotating in opposition to the hips and the arms swing freely). With PD, the upper back lacks rotation and becomes stiff. Something must give, so the low back rotates instead of the upper back, and creates back pain.
My quick takeaways:
- Take your hands out of your pockets
- Wear gloves if your hands are cold
- Stand up straight
- Keep your head up and look ahead
- Rotate your upper back and try to swing both arms.
It’s a lot to think about, but we practice it everyday in class. It will improve!
💜 Coach Kimberly