Physical Therapy Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease
I. LSVT BIG:
We Focus on three areas:
- BIGNESS – the size of your movement
- MODE- exercise or the program requires intense exercise and very high effort!
- On a scale of 0-10, you have to work as hard as a 7 or 8 throughout your session.
- CALIBRATION – this is when your brain accepts that movements that feel too big are normal!
IT REQUIRES a significant amount of effort from the person with Parkinson’s disease. The program focuses on both improved walking and a personal goal that you choose. There are 16 sessions: 4 days each week for four weeks. Sessions are 1 hour with little to no rest periods. There is mandatory daily homework and carryover exercises.
II. PWR Parkinson Wellness Recovery:
A physical therapy approach that utilizes current scientific research. It is a more personalized treatment addressing slowness of movement, stiffness, postural instability/falls, and freezing.
Exercise is a physiological tool to help protect, repair, and optimize the brain function of individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. The PWR Program addresses motor and cognitive issues through the four building block movements. The core of the PWR program is these four moves; PWR up, Rock, Twist, and Step. These moves are incorporated into different challenge levels and used to work on a patient’s primary issues, emphasizing large amplitude, intense movements that target posture, trunk flexibility, weight shifting, and walking. In addition, voice control, finger dexterity, and arm motion are addressed. These MOVES can be used as a stand-alone exercise program, but more importantly, these principles can be implemented into any exercise program.
Check out these WWSPT blogs and video to learn more about Parkinson’s Disease:
Do you know Anyone Living with Parkinson’s Disease?
Women with Parkinson’s Disease
PT for Parkinson’s Disease by Dr. Kelsey Hanlon PT, DPT,
WWS Physical Therapy and Vestibular Rehabilitation, Doylestown, PA.
Resources:
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is an international association of more than 21,000 neurology professionals dedicated to providing the best care for patients with neurological disorders.
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (PDF)
A national nonprofit dedicated to Parkinson’s disease research, education, and advocacy. PDF is working for the nearly one million people in the US who live with Parkinson’s Disease.
Parkinson Wellness Recovery/PWR
PWR! is about early intervention, enrichment, education, and empowerment of those living with Parkinson’s disease. Basic science studies advocate for exercise as a first defense as earlier and more Parkinson’s disease diagnoses become a reality. Even as other proactive options like medications and deep brain stimulation become utilized, exercise is just as necessary to optimize their benefits.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today. Since 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation has invested more than $450 million to speed up a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
