Tired from being bent over

[aeroman]

Dear friends, I'm new here although I'm a 10 year PD veteran. Can anybody recommend a back brace/support that will help me walk upright? I find trying to keep my head up and shoulders back the most exhausting condition with my PD

[PDDBSwife]

Hi aeroman

As muscles atrophy or over-flex during the course of PD, your core muscles become enlarged in spasm; the psoas and lumbar quadrate muscle, and it's these that are bending your spine. It's very hard to stretch the psoas. Using back braces may help, but stretching exercises would benefit you better in the long run.

My husband is in his 18th year with PD. I try to encourage a correct posture; almost impossible to begin with; he festinates as you probably do, so I get him to start again by 'centering' himself: feet apart, imagine you are dangling by a string from the very top of your head - that means your head would be straight and forward facing, your neck would be elongated because your shoulders would drop and move back (unpushed!), your spine will stretch and your pelvic girdle will curl slightly in. Knees unlocked.

To practise this stance, initially do it with your back on the wall. Once you can do that, use a doorway for support only. Everything is loose.

We've recently taken up Nordic walking which is helping. He's not perfect at it, but it really promotes a posture that will stretch those big muscles. Now, when he 'centers' I tell him to tuck the pelvic girdle in a bit more and engage the core (stomach) muscles. When he's ready, we're off. He's doing better! It'll never be perfect, but these exercises may help. There are many psoas muscle stretches you can do, but for PD, be gentle - you've got to use one set of muscles to get another to stretch!

If you're not sure you've engaged the psoas, here's an easy one: lie flat on your bed with your arms stretched above your head (you can do this better on the floor, but the bed's softer!). You may have to do it sideways or the opposite way.

Flex your feet so they're pointing away from you. Cross your hands flat (like a bird's wings), and with your full body extended, curl upwards your pelvis and imagine you're going to do a sit-up. DON'T though! Just pull your core as if you are and hope for a few seconds. You should feel the pull in your abdomen, sides and if you've really got it, your psoas...it'll feel as if you can fell a pull trough your pelvic girdle.

Hope this helps! Wish I could do pics, dagnabit!

[DianeJ]

I just read about the benefits of walking sticks for posture and stability. I do plan on buying some soon. Hopefully,they will help.

[Joynb in reply to DianeJ]

I would encourage you to seek advice from a physiotherapist or OT. I have been advised that my walker helps me but a walking stick would makes things worse.

[Serenity_finaly-1]

I do not believe in coincidence so when I read my Grace Mail today and saw your post....

Psalm 145:14 "The LORD helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads."

[johntPM]

Has anyone tried one of the electronic devices that beep when they detect bad posture?

They have an accelerometer which measures the angle of lean (side to side) and stoop (forward lean).

John

[Serenity_finaly-1 in reply to johntPM]

Great, now they have an electronic device that tells me I am doing something the wrong way.

[DianeJ]

The article I read was from [e-mail]. This is a woman who writes a blog on her parkinson battle. She recently started using walking sticks, with good results.

[NRyan]

It may be that you have cervical dystonia (pulling you down in front) and a botox injection may help tremendously. One error people make is not treating the dystonia, especially if it is focal dystonia, separate from the PD. They are TWO separate things. Also exercise to work on upper traps and serratus anterior muscles of back. Also look into TED talk with Dr. Joaquin Farias. He helps people recover from dystonia WITHOUT drugs. Look into lectin avoidance diet, it may help with dystonia as well. My recent bout of dystonia has calmed after I changed my diet. I am an OT, by the way. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.