Hello
My Dad has had parkinsons for about 5 years now and his posture is now very stooped. Has anyone tried a Chiropractor? I use a Chiropractor and tehy tell me it may help but wondered if anyone with Parkinsons themselves has had any experience?
Also does anyone know why Parkisnons causes stooped posture? My Dads neck is very forward and down, I have noticed that when he hold his head head up (when my Mum tells him to) his walking improves.
hello Pomegranate
I don`t think a chiropractor will be the answer. My OH goes to a sports therapist and a friend goes to a remedial physiotherapist. They say the problem is muscles losing the automatic remembrance of what to do to keep us upright. The stoop can make some muscles work overtime and physio will help them. We also got good advice about exercises that helped.
It is important to try to minimise the stoop because over time it may become worse to the point where it makes walking very tiring and balance is impaired.
Hope you can find a suitable therapist nearby.
Hatknitter
many thanks Hatknitter
Dad is trying physio at the moment but he seems to be in a lot of pain after the excercises
According the chiropracter they keep adjusting you until the muscle starts remember to hold you in the right place - so your comment about l=muscles losing the memory to automatically keep you upright is very interesting
Dads walking is not very good at all now - my mum keeps telling him to hold is head up - and when he does (he can only manage it for a matter of secons) his walking certainly improves for that short amount of time
My problem is when I need an adjustment of my medication I seem to lose the muscles that hold my back up and develop a stooping forward posture which in turn gives me bad back pain plus a contracture of the diaghram. This gets better with a increase of dopamine but doctors are reluctant to increase the dosage because of the long term side effects such as involuntary movements.
When this happens (the lack of medication) I can hardly walk or stand up, it's so painful. Just to clean my teeth for bed is a harrowing process unless I sit down.The pain eases on sitting down and lying in bed. I want to exercise but can't manage anything at the moment. It's very frustrating. Does anyone else have this problem?
Hi sorry i cant really help scbarbara but can say my dad is really struggling with his posture and walking even when on his medication perhaps he neeeds higher dose
Hi Pomegranate
Has your Dad talked this over with his neurologist? This has happened to me twice; once about three years ago with exactly the same symptoms which cleared up as soon as doctors put me on a higher dose of Stalevo(dopamine).
I'm going through the same thing at the moment and my neurologist has given me a higher dosage but unfortunately it's either not enough or as I'm taking antibiotics for sinusitis this is lowering the effect. I'm waiting to finish the course of antibiotics to see if there's an improvement.
Maybe if your Dad could try an adjustment of his medication it might just work.
Hell there fellow parkinsonians, shakers & groovers lol
hi pomegranet, im into my 24th year since being diagnosed with my nightmare PD, now ive been having problems with my neck and posture for some years, and i thought and was told not to bother with specialists as the likes of a chiropractor..........i thought well either i persist to fall foward and cope and suffer with neck aches etc and nothing coming thru from any of the worlds PD specialists, after all im not far being the same now at the age of 54 than i was when diagnosed, i was then 30, even with all the money worldwide , michael j fox organisation pushing all the buttons but no luck in new better control or cure for PD. i contacted a local chiropractor, see if he would be interested in the challenge of helping with the problems in my back, neck & posture, he called around a few days later and wrote a history diary in my health, ailments, drugs, problems , took about an hour, he took me on saying we can try, nothing too loose , he liked a challenge and what was better he would call in to me on his call out list so that was cool.............well to cut a long story short im into my 12 appointment going from 2 a week to one a month, it was a tad expensive at first £30 each appointment but as time went on my neck of which was constantly clicking and aching gradually getting better with posture improving too, standing straighter, my chiropractor gave me a few exercises to do in between appointments and all in all im well chuffed, glad i got in touch now. i know not everyone is the same so i wouldnt shout to high from the tree tops but it worked for me, so i would tell folk to give it a go, definatly worth a try............also the headaches i had with the neck clicking has stopped completely, so no poppin pain killers which gotta be good for my system
good luck
take care & be safe
Hugh aka Welshbearuk
