We know that physical exercise can help improve a host of medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis, but for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) — a disabling disease of the central nervous system — balance training specifically can be a game-changer.The caring team of providers at Houston Neurological Institute is deeply invested in providing the most advanced treatment for those living with MS, as it can improve your mobility and quality of life markedly. They’re committed to your wellness and comfort, and consider themselves your long-term partners in care.
MS is actually an autoimmune disorder. Your immune system mistakenly attacks the cells within the protective myelin sheaths that envelop your nerve fibers, thinking they’re enemy invaders.
The myelin sheath not only protects your nerve fibers but enables efficient and rapid nerve transmissions, and MS disrupts these functions and prevents your body from effectively communicating with your central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). This causes symptoms like:
With MS, you can even experience sexual dysfunction, bladder and bowel problems, and chronic fatigue.
Multiple sclerosis is treatable, but not curable, and as it progresses, the nerve damage it causes affects how you function and move. The good news is that your Houston Neurological Institute provider is dedicated to doing all they can to slow and minimize your MS symptoms and their effects on how you live your life.
An important discovery for people living with MS is that balance training can improve not only their coordination, but also their balance, things that MS negatively affects. This type of training involves specific exercises and movements.
Balance training to help your MS symptoms may mean:
These types of movements help your posture, warm up your muscles, and can even ward off MS pains and injury,
When you begin a stretching program, your doctor might suggest performing exercises in a seated position.
One example is the grapevine, where you step to the side with your right foot and cross over it with your left foot and then repeat the movement, but go in the opposite direction.
Another easy one to learn is the heel raise, where you place your feet apart about hip distance, slowly rise up to your tiptoes, and then gradually lower to the floor. This move improves your ability not only to walk, but to run and jump.
Exercises like crunches form a good strong core. This improves how you perform many movements, including making it easier to get into a seated or standing position and allowing you to bend over more confidently.
One example is wrapping an exercise band with handles around a pole or column and pulling it toward you slowly, until your elbows are aligned with your shoulders. You should then squeeze your shoulder blades together while not overtaxing yourself, and return to your starting position.
Exercises like these strengthen the postural muscles in your back, pelvis, and abdomen.
Pilates is a type of full-body workout that improves your flexibility, strength, and muscle tone. It was developed by the German physician Joseph Hubertus Pilates in the 1920s. You need to go to a special studio, because this workout requires specific equipment, but Pilates has been shown to improve multiple MS symptoms, including pain, fatigue, uneven gait, and more.
Now that you know what a balance training plan for MS looks like, you can feel comfortable and confident as you go forward with the activity plan you and your Houston Neurological Institute provider have discussed. We’re here anytime you have questions about your MS treatment.
Balance training is one important MS treatment that can complement the others we offer, which include TYSABRIⓇ IV treatment in our on-site infusion center.
Call our Perland or Pasadena, Texas, office today to schedule an appointment with us so you can learn more about safe and effective treatment for your MS. You may also book an appointment online.
