If you have Parkinson’s disease and live in one of the areas currently being hit by wildfires you are probably having problems breathing due to poor air quality. I have been evacuated from my home and am living in the Rebel Fit Club gym. Luckily, I had a place to go to. Unfortunately, many around us have lost their homes.

As we were packing up our house the fire was only a mile away. You can imagine how hard it was to breathe. We couldn’t see across our property because the smoke was so bad. Even though I was wearing a surgical mask and bandana, I felt like I was being suffocated. My husband was able to find a N95 mask he had bought years ago for wood working. As soon as I put it on, I instantly felt a difference. There was no difference in the air quality, but the particles weren’t getting in my lungs.

Last week I showed you how to do a simple back extension exercise over a yoga ball to strengthen your back to treat Parkinson’s stooped posture and tight shoulders. However, not everyone has a yoga ball at home. Today I wanted to show you how to make a simple home-made exercise tool that will open up your Parkinson’s stooped posture.

This back extension exercise over a yoga ball is a great way to strengthen your upper back extensor muscles that help you stand straight and your shoulder blade stabilizers, which all treat Parkinson’s stooped posture and tight shoulders.

This exercise also helps with muscular strength and endurance of the upper back, and it’s a great rotator cuff exercise.

For people with Parkinson’s, frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) can come out of nowhere and slowly get worse. It’s more common for people with Parkinson’s because of their small arm movement, or lack arm movement. This not only affects the shoulder capsule, but it involves the shoulder blades and other surrounding structures as well.

Unfortunately, Parkinson’s frozen shoulder doesn’t get better on its own. It takes patience, persistence, and daily home exercise to encourage the joint to move normally again.

Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) is very common in people with Parkinson’s. This condition causes pain, stiffness, and loss of normal range of motion in the shoulder. The resulting disability can be serious, and the condition tends to get worse with time if it’s not treated. It usually affects people ages 40 to 60, and women more often than men.

For people with Parkinson’s, frozen shoulder can come out of nowhere and slowly get worse. Often, frozen shoulder occurs because the shoulder has been immobilized for a long time by injury, surgery, or illness. Fortunately, the shoulder can usually be unfrozen! Full recovery takes time and a lot of home exercise.