With Parkinson’s disease, the upper back gets really rigid and stiff. This rigidity, compounded by forward rounding, prevents it from rotating correctly. As a result, the lower back (designed to stabilize, not rotate) must take over, leading to lower back pain. Using pool noodles, this seated exercise can help treat upper back rotation.
Continue reading “How to Use Your Noodle to Improve Parkinson’s Upper Back Rotation”
With Parkinson’s disease, the rib cage gets stiff and flexes forward, causing a lack of rotation in the spine. This stiffness, compounded by the “lats” (the muscles in your back that attach to your arms) getting tethered down, causes difficulty when reaching and straightening your arms. When you can’t rotate in your upper back (thoracic spine), your body will start to compensate by rotating and extending parts of your body that are not meant to rotate. This almost always results in shoulder or back pain.
Furthermore, the eyes may have difficulty tracking a moving or stationary object or finding the next line in a book when reading.
Continue reading “Improve Parkinson’s Stiff Back and Eye-Tracking Issues With This Seated Noodle Exercise”
Tight hip flexors are a huge problem for people with Parkinson’s disease. Many of my fighters complain of hip and back issues that stem from tight psoas and other hip flexor muscles.
Continue reading “How to Use Balls to Release Tight Parkinson’s Hip Flexors”
My clients ask for an easy stretch they can do in the morning or evening that will help with the rounding forward posture and back pain Parkinson’s disease can cause. It’s very common so I started doing this exercise with all my private clients and integrating it into my boxing classes. It’s easy and gets to those pesky psoas muscles that get overly tight especially on people with PD.
Continue reading “Beginner Hip Flexor Stretch for Parkinson’s”When someone falls, our first instinct is to help them up quickly usually without thinking about our own back. People typically don’t fall in a convenient place or perfect position. Many times, it’s in a shower or tub, by a bed wedged between a nightstand, or even in a closet. If your loved one is twice your size and has Parkinson’s, it could be hazardous to you if you try to lift them.
Watch the video below to learn how to safely help someone with Parkinson’s get up after a fall: Continue reading “How to Safely Help Someone with Parkinson’s Get up After a Fall”