Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Disease is a common progressive neurological condition that affects areas of the brain that co-ordinate muscle movements. It is caused by the death of cells in the brain that produce the key neurotransmitter dopamine. Our neurological physiotherapists have experience of helping people with Parkinson's Disease and we operate a home visit physiotherapy service anywhere within a 20 minute drive of Lichfield including areas such as Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Cannock and Burton.

The effects of Parkinson's Disease are extremely varied but the following are some of the most common:

Tremors/Shaking: This is usually one of the first symptoms to be noticed and tends to be worst at rest.

Stiffness: Joints and limbs can often become stiff causing difficulty with movement.

Balance and Posture: As the condition progresses  people will tend to stoop more and their balance will often worsen causing more falls.

Speech Changes: Words may become slurred or harder to understand

Handwriting: This will often worsen and become very thin and spidery.

How can Neurological Physiotherapy help?

 Our neurological physiotherapists will visit you at home in Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Cannock and Burton and they will develop a personalised and tailored program for you to help you achieve your goals and targets. Treatments will often include

• Help with improving transfers for example from bed to chair
• Working on assisting you to become more independent or maintain independence
• Assisting you to Improve or hold onto muscle strength
• Methods of reducing the risk of falls and balance exercises
• Help and advice on how to manage symptoms best
• Working on reducing abnormal and problematic gait patterns
• Help with fine motor control

Neurological physiotherapy is an essential component of rehabilitation for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Your physiotherapist at ThreeSpires Physiotherapy will work towards maximising your levels of independence and function as well as reducing any other problems you may be suffering. Your physiotherapist will work on a range of issues including  postural alignment, balance, walking and transfers, in order to assist you in gaining as much independence as possible. Our neurological physiotherapists are all mobile and will visit you at home to help with Parkinson's Disease and our physiotherapists are able to visit Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Cannock and Burton.

If you want to know more detail about Parkinson's Disease then have a look at the following articles:

NICE Guidance and Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Disease & Physiotherapy

Parkinson's Disease & Physiotherapy

Our physiotherapists here at ThreeSpires Physiotherapy understand that improving or maintaining mobility maybe your most important concern. Your physiotherapist will work with you every session to get your mobility to the very best possible state. Our physiotherapists have experience of your condition and will use any specific techniques necessary to assist you in gaining maximum mobility (this might include giving you cues during walking). 

Due to the nature of Parkinson's Disease, the lengthy assessment process and the need for ongoing re-assessment as each patient changes; all treatment sessions are 1 hour including follow ups. It is our experience that this extended period of time allows for a much greater benefit and response to therapy and is especially beneficial for patients who may fatigue quickly and may need longer rest periods in sessions

FAQs For Parkinson's Disease & Physiotherapy

1. Why are your physios mobile? We run a home visit physiotherapy service in Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Cannock and Burton because we believe that physiotherapy at home offers the greatest benefits. This alows your physio to assess how your Parkinson's Disease is affecting you at home and will enable them to consider falls risks and how to manage rehab at home. There are many more reasons for this and if you want to know more please read our article on this Mobile Physiotherapy Service At Your Home

2. Can I visit your physiotherapy clinic? We believe so strongly that physio at home offers the greatest benefit that we have avoided setting up a physical physiotherapy clinic and instead we continue to have our physiotherapists visit their patients in Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Cannock and Burton.

3. Can you visit a care home to help with Parkinson's Disease? Yes, our physiotherapists regularly visit care homes in Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Cannock and Burton to help with Parkinson's Disease. If you have a relative at a care home with Parkinson's Disease and they need help with physiotherapy please get in touch. For more information about physiotherapy in care homes please read this Physiotherapy in Care Homes

4. I have only just been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Would I benefit from Physio? The simple answer is yes, we would always recommend having at least an assessment by one of our physios. It may be the case that at this stage, all you need is a physiotherapy assessment at home and advice on how to manage things but it may also be the case that there will be things that you can work on and you will benefit from further physio sessions.

5. My relative also has dementia along with Parkinson's Disease. Can physio help? Dementia will obviously complicate things and make progress much slower but our mobile physios are experts at helping patients with dementia and Parkinson's Disease and will be able to structure the sessions to accommodate for this. We have an excellent article about physiotherapy and dementia Physiotherapy for People Living with Dementia

6. Which areas do your physios visit for Parkinson's Disease? All of our physiotherapists are mobile and we provide a physiotherapy service at home for Parkinson's Disease across a very wide area which includes Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Cannock, Walsall, Rugeley, Tamworth and Burton. 

If you or someone you know has Parkinson's Disease and you would like to find out more about how neurological physiotherapy might be able to help then please get in touch. We are a home visit physiotherapy service based in Lichfield, Staffordshire and we serve anywhere within a 20 minute drive. This includes locations such as Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield, Burton, Walsall, Rugeley, Cannock, Burntwood and Brownhills. We can be contacted on 0788 428 1623 or via email at enquiries@threespiresphysiotherapy.co.uk