March 20, 2024
Welcome to The Climb, your weekly journey with Lifecycle Sherpa, where we explore Parkinson’s Disease, its symptoms, treatments, tips, techniques, and build a supportive and knowledgeable community.
This week’s trail leads us to…tremors
Question: What is an essential tremor versus and intentional tremor? How can I manage them!? They are so annoying and limit me in almost everything I do!
Answer: An intentional tremor (very rare in Parkinson’s) is when shaking occurs when a person is trying to use the hand only (like reaching for a cup), but whose tremor is not present at rest. An essential tremor (which is most common in Parkinson’s) is when shaking is present at rest, but is made WORSE with intentional movement.
Tips on Management: Here are TWO!
1) Exercise: When you exercise, your body creates the dopamine it is lacking and therefore improves the tremor.
2) Weight bearing into arms and legs: When you feel the tremor starting up, push into that extremity (For example, if you are writing, push the heel of your hand into the table. If your leg is shaking when you are sitting, sit forward and push down into the floor.)
For more guidance, get a referral to see a physical or occupational therapist to address your specific symptoms. It is always a good idea to learn strategies before the symptoms evolve in order to best fight them off.
We always encourage feedback, as it helps us enhance our community. Feel free to reach out regarding future topics you want to learn about, or how we can improve your experience.
See you next week!