PARKINSON'S
How can physiotherapy help you?
Physiotherapy is essential in the multidisciplinary management of people with Parkinson’s.
Advice and education offered in the early stages maintain general fitness, minimise deterioration and promote self-management. In the later stages, physiotherapy can improve gait, balance, transfers, manual activities and reduce the fall risk.
During the earlier stages, physiotherapists emphasise education and self-management, encouraging the use of leisure and third-sector programmes that promote general fitness and inclusion in community activity. Physiotherapy-specific exercise can offset the effects of Parkinson’s to minimise deterioration in strength, endurance, flexibility and balance.
Your physio’s role.
Muscle Length
The tone and functional length of muscle fibres can be affected by Parkinson's, causing stiffness and soreness.
Our experienced physiotherapy team will assess your muscular system and use a suitable treatment approach for your specific muscle tone to maintain muscle length.
This may include:
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Stretching
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Muscle energy techniques
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Clinical Pilates
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Dry needling
Maintaining muscle length is vital in reducing the tension and stiffness common in Parkinson's and helps prevent falls.
Muscle Strength
Our physiotherapists will conduct a detailed assessment to examine your muscle strength and conditioning.
This assessment will be used to create an individual rehabilitation program to target your weak areas using Clinical Pilates and Rehabilitation Exercises.
This has many beneficial effects, including changing movement patterns, decreasing pain, improving stability, maintaining mobility and increasing confidence.
Gait
A vital part of our approach examines your movement and walking patterns.
Targeted rehabilitation to your mobility, balance and coordination and the use of mobility aids has multiple benefits, including increased confidence and reduced rate of falls.
Pain Management
At SMARTPHYSIO, we really dig down into everything which can be contributing to your pain- including lifestyle, environment, stressors, nutrition, muscle imbalances, joint stiffness, past traumas and more.
We have a whole-person approach to treatment and offer a range of ‘traditional’ hands-on physiotherapy treatments such as muscle release, taping, joint mobilisations/ adjustments and exercise therapy.
Injury Care
Poor mobility can often lead to falls and an increased risk of injuries.
Poor (or non-existent) rehabilitation of these is often associated with further injuries.
Our physiotherapists can assess, diagnose and treat a full range of musculoskeletal injuries, post-concussion symptoms, whiplash and more.
We can also refer for imaging (e.g. X-ray/MRI) as needed.
Wellbeing and Mental Health
Our values at SMARTPHYSIO are strong, and we believe that
everyone needs to be heard. Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonism can have a devastating effect on confidence and mental wellbeing.
Years of experience in pain, disease and injury management have left us with various approaches, educational tools and more we can share with you to help improve YOUR life or the life of your family member.
We often find that just getting a specialist Physiotherapist involved, like us, and having a structured treatment plan in place helps many patients instantly feel more secure and in control.
