Parkinson's is a neurological disorder that progresses as the disease advances.
It harms the nervous system and the body parts the nerves control.
The symptoms of Parkinson’s are gradual at first, however, they keep worsening as the disease progresses.
You may experience mild stiffness in your limbs and hand tremors in the initial stages.
Apart from the clinical treatment, there are a few effective home exercise for Parkinson Disease that improve the symptoms significantly.
Detecting the symptoms early and treating them is of vital importance in Parkinson’s. symptoms of Parkinson’s can be eased down significantly with home exercise for Parkinson disease.
Engaging in regular exercise can help Parkinson’s patients in reducing their symptoms and improving their quality of life.
Simple, easy-to-follow home exercise for Parkinson disease not only improve the primary symptoms, but they reduce your chances of getting injured.
Some of the reported benefits of home exercise for Parkinson disease are:
While it is understandable that you want to start an exercise to improve your Parkinson’s patients, it is equally vital to note that you need to warm up your body before starting any home exercise for Parkinson disease.
Slow jogging, stretching, dynamic stretching, and slow cycling are the best warm-up exercises for Parkinson’s patients.
You must be wondering, ‘Why is a warm-up necessary at all?” A warm-up is an exercise routine that warms up your body and gets the body into exercise mode.
A proper warm-up increases your heart rate and gets your muscles ready for the actual exercise routine.
Failing to do warm-ups before the actual exercise can cause muscle injury or tear. It is even more vital for those patients who want to start home exercise for Parkinson disease.
Since Parkinson’s severely limits your body’s muscle activity, you have to thoroughly prepare your body before starting any exercise.
Stretching is one of the best home exercise for Parkinson disease.
It helps with Bradykinesia and improves the overall mobility in Parkinson’s patients. Gentle stretching involves four steps:
Be sure to hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds and try to feel the stretch.
While changing the pose, do not jerk muscles and breathe deeply.
Take ample time to change your poses.
Home exercise for Parkinson disease also has range of motion exercises that work well against symptoms such as Bradykinesia (a gradual slowness of movements) and stiffness.
Range of motion exercises includes trunk twists, body twists, external rotation, wrist rolls, shoulder rolls, hip extensions, etc. that improve mobility in Parkinson’s patients.
Exercising your lungs is vital as your chest wall may become stiff as Parkinson’s progresses.
Sometimes, an abnormal change in your posture can make you stoop forward, making breathing a difficult affair.
That is why, breathing exercises are a vital part of the home exercise for Parkinson disease.
There are different ways to strengthen your lung muscles.
Exercises such as deep breathing, fast breathing, aerobic exercises like marching on a single spot for 2 minutes, etc. are some exercises that help with the symptoms of Parkinson’s.
Cardiovascular exercises are equally vital for Parkinson’s patients.
These exercises improve flexibility, prevent constipation, help maintain a healthy body weight, and strengthen the heart and lung muscles.
Walking, stationary biking, dancing, etc. are some of the best cardiovascular exercises for Parkinson’s patients and you can easily include these exercises in your schedule of home exercise for Parkinson disease.
1. Walking: A simple walk in the park is a good starting point.
Just wear comfortable clothes and good walking shoes and go for a walk.
It will be even better if you get a walking partner for you. This makes walking a fun exercise.
2. Stationary Biking: Stationary Biking is a good way to boost your cardiovascular health, if you are a Parkinson’s patient.
Riding an indoor stationary bike improves mobility in Parkinson’s patients.
However, set the speed to a comfortable level.
Additionally, if it is possible, have a care partner riding with you.
A study has shown that riding a stationary bike with a partner leads to longer exercise duration.
3. Dancing: It doesn’t come as a surprise that dancing helps Parkinson’s patients a lot.
It improves gait, and body coordination, helps in social networking, and above all, it is fun.
There are specific dance schools that help with the rehab of Parkinson’s patients.
Check whether your area has one such school and join it.
4. Tips for Safe Cardiovascular Workouts
Apart from home exercise for Parkinson disease, strength training is equally vital for Parkinson’s patients, as it helps patients gain muscular strength, endurance, dynamic balance, and cognitive functioning.
Strength training is an excellent way to reduce the frequency of falls and injuries.
While Parkinson’s patients have limited body movements, they can still engage in a few bodyweight exercises.
Bodyweight chair squats, push-ups against the wall, towel pull apart, Bird Dog, Static Lunge, Hollow Hold, etc. are some of the best bodyweight exercises for Parkinson’s patients.
First place a resistance band loop around your thighs, above the knees.
Comfortably lie on your back with bent knees and feet flat on the floor.
Then slowly widen the distance between the legs so that tension develops in the band.
Slowly raise your hips up forming a bridge with a gap between your legs.
Hold this pose for 30 seconds in the beginning and slowly work up the time.
Stretching is a great home exercise for Parkinson disease. It arrests the slowdown of mobility in Parkinson’s patients and improves the overall flexibility in patients.
A full-body stretching routine involves body twists, shoulder rolls, neck twists, wrist rolls, back stretches, finger stretches, trunk stretches, Quadriceps and Gluteus Stretch, hamstring stretches, ankle stretches and leg rotator stretches. However, be sure to keep your movements fluid and not abrupt.
When you stretch, keep your body relaxed. Do not make jerky movements. When you stretch, you should feel the tension in your muscles, however, do not overexert. While moving from one stretch to another, keep your transition smooth. Keep your posture correct in all of your stretches.
Stretch before the start of your exercise routine.
When you suffer from Parkinson’s, your gait goes through abnormal changes.
Parkinsonian gait is one of the most notable features of Parkinson’s, especially in later stages.
Parkinsonian gait is defined by small steps taken by the patient as they are unable to walk properly.
Freezing of gait is also pretty common in Parkinson’s.
Home exercise for Parkinson disease is a good way to improve your mobility and reduce freezing and other Parkinsonian gait type of features.
Since Parkinson’s harms mobility, you must take steps to improve your walking ability as a patient.
Slow jogging or stationary biking is one of the best ways to strengthen your walking ability.
However, if your symptoms are at the advanced stages, then walking with an assisted device or taking the help of a caretaker is recommended.
Gait training exercises are pretty effective in improving the symptoms of Parkinsonian gait. Some really effective gait training exercises are:
If walking comfortably is becoming increasingly difficult for you, you can take the help of assistive devices such as wheelchairs, tricycles, crutches, walking sticks/canes, and walking frames/walkers.
Additionally, there are specific positioning devices like wedges, chairs,(corner chairs, special seats), and standing frames to improve the mobility of Parkinson’s patients.
Some easy-to-follow strategies that enhance mobility along with home exercise for Parkinson disease are:
Parkinson’s is a disease that affects you physically as well as psychologically.
However, there are effective ways through which you can improve your mobility and live with this disease without having to compromise too much on your quality of life.
However, be sure to consult your healthcare provider before doing any exercise though.
Certificate no- AH-2023-0186
JAN 05,2023-JAN 04,2026
