What rehabilitation exercises can be performed in Parkinson’s disease?
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurological disorder that primarily affects movement. Its symptoms may vary from person to person and tend to develop gradually. The most common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include: tremors, stiffness, bradykinesia (slow movements), balance disorders, gait disturbance, impaired handwriting and facial expression.
Therefore, rehabilitation exercises in Parkinson’s disease can also be combined with healthy daily activities such as walking or gentle exercise. Swimming or dancing, of course adapted to the possibilities of the person, are also very interesting.
Therapeutic goals in Parkinson’s disease
Treatment of Parkinson’s disease has several goals that may vary according to the stage of the disease and the individual needs of the patient. The main goals of rehabilitation treatment are as follows:
- Alleviate motor symptoms: Treatment seeks to reduce the most prominent motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, such as tremors, muscle rigidity and bradykinesia (slow movements). This improves the patient’s quality of life and functional capacity.
- Maintaining personal autonomy: A key goal is to help the patient maintain independence in daily activities, such as dressing, eating and moving.
- Improve motor function and mobility: Through physical and occupational therapy, we seek to improve the patient’s motor function and mobility. Specific exercises should be included to maintain strength and flexibility.
- Encourage physical activity and exercise: Regular physical activity and exercise can help maintain muscle strength, improve balance and slow disease progression. Objectives include facilitating participation in adapted exercise programs.
- Managing non-motor symptoms: In addition to motor symptoms, Parkinson’s disease can cause non-motor symptoms, such as cognitive problems, sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal problems. Treatment can be directed at addressing these symptoms to improve the patient’s quality of life.
- Delaying the progression of the disease: While there is no definitive cure for Parkinson’s disease, some treatments can help slow its progression. This may include the use of medications that affect dopamine levels in the brain and consideration of more advanced therapies, such as brain stimulation.
We must not forget that the immediate family, and especially the primary caregiver, suffer directly from the consequences of the disease. Providing information and support to patients and their caregivers is essential to help them understand the disease and cope with the challenges it brings. This may include support groups and education about the disease.
Parkinson’s Treatment Rehabilitation exercise examples
Here are some examples of how we can improve Parkinson’s treatment with virtual reality exercises that take advantage of technology.
Balance and gait rehabilitation exercises using virtual reality
Gait rehabilitation exercises using virtual reality are designed to improve balance, strength, coordination and function of the lower extremities. The patient interacts with a screen, without the need for controls or any sensor placed on the patient’s body.
Rehametrics’ physical rehabilitation software offers 85 virtual reality exercises, providing an additional motivational boost for patients. In addition, the program automatically adjusts the difficulty according to the patient’s performance and records data for automatic reporting.
VR systems provide real-time biofeedback on gait, alignment and other important aspects. This allows therapists and patients to adjust and correct gait technique effectively.
Hand rehabilitation with a virtual reality headset
For patients needing enhanced mobility and coordination in their upper limbs, immersive virtual reality exercises can complement physical rehabilitation. Immersive rehabilitation refers to the use of a virtual reality headset in therapy sessions with patients.
The immersive occupational rehabilitation program by Rehametrics enables the exercise of fine motor skills through activities of daily living such as hanging clothes, cooking, shopping, along with manipulation exercises, reaching, praxias, reaction speed, and the treatment of hemineglect.
Virtual reality headsets can be used for rehabilitation exercises in patients with Parkinson’s and other neurological or musculoskeletal diseases. There are more and more studies that show the improvement with the use of these technologies. Mainly, better results are achieved through increased motivation and active participation of the patient.
Cognitive activities for Parkinson’s patients
In addition to physical rehabilitation, cognitive training activities are recommended for Parkinson’s patients. This type of exercise is crucial to strengthen skills such as attention, memory, language, perception, executive functions…
For this purpouse, it is best to have a professional program. The use of cognitive exercise software, which can be applied at the clinic or at the patient’s home. With the simple use of a touch device (such as a tablet) or on a computer, we can perform fun exercises that stimulate cognitive functions and keep the patient active every day.
If you work with neurological patients and would like to learn more about virtual rehabilitation
Contact us now to see how you can improve your patients’ rehabilitation with a professional software:
