Last week I showed you how to do myofascial release to help the stiffness caused by Parkinson’s. This week I want to show you how to use ordinary rubber bands to strengthen and stretch your hands.

There are many hand exercise products on the market. Some are squishy balls you grip, but for most people with Parkinson’s their hands are already in a flexed position. What you really need to do is EXTEND your hands.

The hand resistance tools you can buy are usually pretty hard to manage if you have a tremor and/or flexed, stiff hands. They are also very high resistance and can be really difficult for people with weak, sore hands to use. They also require you to fit your fingers in the tiny loops.

I see this exercise done incorrectly all the time! People with Parkinson’s that are stiff often need to modify traditional exercises, and that stiffness can sometimes make stretching exercises dangerous. Seems like a double standard!

If you are flexible or mildly stiff, this popular exercise is safe. But if you have PD, you are most likely really stiff in your upper and lower back, rib area, and neck. Unfortunately, that makes this traditional exercise dangerous for your shoulder and neck.

If you are stiff, it’s common to overcompensate in another joint. In this case, it’s the shoulder and neck.

This “Thread the Needle” exercise stretches and opens your shoulders, chest, arms, upper back, and neck. It releases the stiffness in your upper back and between the shoulder blades.

Watch this video to learn how to perform the “Thread the Needle” exercise properly:

Hand stiffness is a huge complaint for our fighters and dancers with Parkinson’s. It gets in the way of everything you want to do and makes the simplest task seem slow and almost impossible.

I use a simple exercise called the Pull-Push-Pull to help my clients and students improve the flexibility in their hands and fingers. I love this exercise because it has all sorts of Parkinson’s therapies rolled into one. You know me—I like to be efficient and multitask! I know you have things to do and don’t want a bunch of separate exercises when you can get the same benefits in less time.

It’s really frustrating trying to find shoes for someone with Parkinson’s disease. There are so many things to consider with an average foot, then layer neuromuscular issues on top of that, and it can become almost unbearable to shop for shoes.

When shopping for shoes, often a shoe store clerk will not understand the needs of someone with PD. These guidelines are for active people, but make sure you explore many shoes before deciding. Just because they are comfy doesn’t mean they are a good fit for your foot or your gait. Sloppy slippers are comfy, but that doesn’t make them good for you. Shoes should help correct your biomechanics, including gait. Shoes that are not fitted properly can cause you to trip or create faulty movement patterns.