April 17, 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…stiffness (known as rigidity).
Question: What is rigidity? How can I manage it!?
Answer: Rigidity is a MOTOR SYMPTOM. It is experienced as your muscles becoming stiff and inflexible. This is often confused as, or linked to, back pain, hip pain, etc.
Tips on Management: Here are TWO!
1) Exercise and Stretch: Try yoga, tai-chi, dance, boxing, etc.
2) MOVE BIG! Put 100% into moving your body when you move (think the Godzilla steps from our Bradykinesia newsletter, issue 4). In another example, when you are folding clothes or putting away dishes, REACH with all your effort for the clothing or to reach the cup on the shelf. By using that effort, you not only break through that rigidity, but you are recalibrating or retraining your brain to reach accurately for the object. Do it every time and it becomes a new habit. BREAK DOWN THAT RIGIDITY!
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!