Tipperary Parkinson's Disease group offer advice to patients ahead of speech and language talk

This coming Thursday, November 2, at 2pm in the Order of Malta Centre Thurles, sees the return of Joan, our local Speech Therapist, to give a talk and do a question and answer session afterwards.

In Nenagh, our Monday Club runs weekly exercises classes in the Pastoral Centre, Church Rd, Nenagh, at 2pm with a sing along class with Sheelagh Chadwick for an hour to help your speech as well.

I recommend this meeting as speech therapy is most important for people with Parkinson’s Disease.

Patients think they are shouting, but other members of the family can barely hear them, so come along and talk to Joan if you are experiencing problem with your speech.

As a result of Parkinson’s disease you will need to use more vocal effort to have a voice within normal loudness limits. Contact our Secretary Mary Carey on 086 3916726 re this class.

Freezing is another day to day problem for patients with Parkinson’s.

People feel as though their feet are stuck to the ground. It also commonly occurs when trying to turn in small spaces or when walking through doorways.

If you have trouble starting a movement or when you try to step forward just after you've stood up, this is sometimes called start hesitation.

Freezing can also happen with thought. Some people find this when are trying hard to remember something in particular, for example trying to remember names, why they went into that particular room etc.

Freezing can be most common in times of stress or anxiety. For some people with Parkinson’s changes in stride length and speed are not made automatically like in other people.

Usually, the length of the steps we take changes when walking from smooth to uneven ground or from open to narrow spaces. But people with Parkinson’s won't always react in the same way to these things.

You might be able to walk without a problem on uneven surfaces, but will freeze when the floor is smoother or has a patterned surface, or the opposite might happen.

It is useful to have ways to overcome Freezing when it happens.

Every person needs to discover their own way of coping with Freezing. Stress and anxiety make you more likely to freeze. If your feet freeze and you then try to reach out for support that is not close enough to you, you may over-balance and fall.

If you experience Freezing, make sure those who care for you know about the symptoms, as there may be things they can do to help you when it happens.

Likewise, it is important that if you are walking with someone and you freeze, that the other person does not try to drag you along to get you going- this will almost certainly result in a fall. The first thing you should try when you feel yourself about to freeze is to stop moving and relax.

This gives you time to refocus your balance, think about your next move, and to prepare your body to try again.

Once you find a technique that works well for you, you should be able to get over the freezing episode. You may find a tap on your hip taking a side step can help.

Some people would recommend marching on the spot or counting out loud until you feel ready to move on again.

Your Physiotherapist can also give you tips on movement.

So, members, I recommend you to attend our classes. They are free and talk to other members re their problems and see if their solutions can help you.

Contact Marion on 087 2967296 re these classes.