April 24, 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…small, incomplete movements (hypokinesia).
Question: What is hypokinesia? How can I manage it!?
Answer: Hypokinesia is a MOTOR SYMPTOM. The muscles move very minimally, resulting in small movements such as shuffled feet, a flat affect (facial features), freezing, not being able to roll over in bed, and small handwriting (micrographia).
Tips on Management: Here are TWO!
1) Exercise and Stretch: Try yoga, tai-chi, dance, boxing, etc.
2) For those experiencing small handwriting (micrographia) and need help: SLOW DOWN when writing and practice writing in BIG letters on paper with wide lines. Try flicks (flick your fingers open and closed HARD 3-5x) before picking up the pen, and take breaks to do more flicks as needed. Practice daily.
For more guidance, get a referral to see a physical, occupational and speech 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!