I found another stimulus yesterday, by chance!!

I was walking poorly, and picked up a large bottle of water in lab and rested the bottom of the bottle on my hip. I realized that I was walking more normally, and heel to toe, which is unusual for me!

I tried it with 2 empty glass bottles, holding each in a hand by the cap, and resting the bottom of the bottle on my hip, and I walked really well!!

I don't know why it works. Awhile ago someone posted about putting something heavy on his head, and he walked better, if memory serves.

Maybe it causes a different motor pathway to be used, and that compensates for whatever glitch we have that causes a symptom.

I'm going to try the bands of some kind on my foot and see if it helps this pesky foot dystonia which is driving me crazy lately. Thanks so much for this thread.

I hadn't read this entire thread and missed your mention of the man with the helmet. Someone at Braintalk had a similar experience. Anyone recall?

I FOUND THE THREAD!

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...s&ct=clnk&cd=1

09-25-2005, 07:01 PM
PD symptoms riddance by balancing head


From:

http://www.liebermanparkinsonclinic....nt/view/506/2/

OMG! The videos are amazing. Thank you both, so much!!

Rick, I just tried it on my leg and it was shockingly amazing. I can't believe it. I was walking very poorly, slowly, and haltingly, and not heel to toe with my right foot, very short steps.

I took 3 cotton squares I use at work and tied them together and tied them around my right calf. I immediatly was able to walk almost normally, and heel to toe with my right leg. I don't know if it will help with the dystonia yet. I'll let you know. This is so incredible. I'm stunned.

I'm going to wear it under my slacks, during my commute home, and report to you tomorrow.

I have a pdf in my computer about using sensory cues in physical therapy for PD.

They think that cues make motor performance less automatic, and enables us to modify our motor strategies "to involve a closed loop performance".

They think that external sensory cues can help us switch from one movement in a sequence to the next, which compensates for a defective internal trigger from the pallidum to the supplementary motor area.

In the article they mention visual, auditory, and tactile cues. I cannot readily find the tactile cues used, and I have to go home. I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe the bands are a kind of tactile cue.

They ask patients to trace lines with their finger while trying to stay balanced while they are perturbed. The only tactile cue I found. They use visual cues and metronome, too. I rely heavily on visual cues when I walk.

Hello,

I have been in touch with Rick and Anne (I am the one who forwarded and translated the testimonials from France and there is more to come).

I am 29 and don't have PD but I am very interrested in understanding "how things work" and a friend of Anne, this is how I was intriduced to Rick. Currently, I am studying sleep as a sleep technologist.

Hope you don't mind me sticking my nose here from time to time. I just want to ask you to try to find the article you are talking about in the last post, I am very interrested and sure Anne will be.

Regards
Karine from Belgium

From Anne's mailing list as translated and forwarded by Karine:
<BEGIN>
* "I have been fighting for years to try to persuade people that we also have to help ourselves enhance our quality of life with physical means and not only rely on medication. I have investigated with several objects and materials but yet not talked very much about it because it is not always possible to reproduce them. For example, at night, in my bed, when I am not asleep, my left hand and arm shiver very strongly. I can calm that down for a short while if I grasp a tennis ball. The center of the palm must be in contact with the ball, so that it works, just holding it in my fingers is not enough. If I let go, the tremor reappears. On my homebike in the lying position I use a tennis ball sticked to the armrest to stop the tremor. After reading your message, I put on a skinglove with wool inside on my left hand in a strong shiver moment and immediately noticed a relaxing effect. But it didn't last very long. I tried again several times with variable results. I am convinced there is something to all this."
* "My wife observed a real decrease in her dystonia but this effect faded away after a while. In fact, the dystonia were still there but the pain was relieved. It started to reappear progressively like in a weakened oscillation during around ten hours and now it makes no more effect at all."
* "Water has a positive effect on my tremor. Recently, I put on a very narrow sock from my hand to my shoulder and it decreased the tremor for a short while. The sensation is one of well-being like if a contact was necessary".
* "I am now testing a rubber band that I ordered to put my shoulders back in a better position. I feel its mild pressure all around the scapular belt. A nice sensation which relaxes the area and more mobility in my left akinetic arm. Water can also help bring back the movement, it wakes up sleeping streams. Play with warm, cold..."
<END>

From Yahoo Group "plwp2"-
<BEGIN>
Re: Banding videos on YouTube

It's 8PM in New Mexico. We've just finished feeding horses, running
water, tarping hay and Michael is shuffling along all bent over.
His meds wore off about a half hour ago. As we made our way back to
the house, I saw a bunch of twine from the hay bales draped over a
post. It's bright orange, just so you get the picture. I tied a
piece around one thigh and another higher up on the other leg near
the groin. "Walk." He walked and although he was sort of scuffing
his feet, his steps were longer and freer. He came back and I tied
another strand around his hip area. "Go again." His walk was about
normal. He couldn't believe it. Then I tied another piece over his
right shoulder and crossed it over and tied it under his left
armpit. His body went erect. He walked off, walked back and was
free and easy. It was stunning. The only hypotension was in his
neck. No, I didn't tie a string around his neck!! He walked out
the front door as if he were completely "on" and drove himself home!!

His speech improved and his sense of humor surfaced once again. As
an off-hand first experiment............all I can say is WOW!!



Re: Banding videos on YouTube

-I believe I had a similar experience that astounded me ! One
morning when I awoke ,stiff as a board and unable to walk very
well , I was craving a cigarette (I knonw I know it's not good for
me ,but I find it comforting to smoke when I'm off,if I can get the
damn thing lit haha) and due to my addiction I was encouraged to
mount a bicycle and ride to the convenience store,something I would
have never attempted in such a condition before.To my amazement I
rode and pedaled the bike with ease,but when I got to the store and
got off the bike I was still unable to walk.This suggested to me
that there was a different signal loop in the brain being utilized
to pedal rather then walk. I don't know if this is earthshattering
scientific news but I was elated .For those of you who may wonder
why I just didn't drive to the store , well I fell asleep in a
myrapex dream and totaled my car ,I no longer drive.
Enjoyed the videos and wish you sucsess in future experiments.I
have never been so interested in the dynamics of the brain until I
had a broken one.

<END>

Keep the feedback coming. Anne wiil be back next week and start to merge this with what we've already got. Hopefully we'll start making some sense of it all.
-Ricl

The primary symptom of Parkinson's Disease is excessive muscle contraction.

When muscles contract, especially when it is excessive, they expand.

So by banding a muscle, the expansion of that muscle, and therefore the excessive contraction of that muscle is restricted. This limits the potential for Parkinson's Disease symptoms in the affected muscles.

The muscles of the forearm and wrist control the hand. The muscles of the hand control the fingers. So the banding of the wrist and forearm will affect the function of the hand rather than the forearm.

they are speaking about the biblical term -"girding your loins"
keeps the leg from losing strength...
try levi's with stretchy sp? material.
only women with panic attacks, may not be good subjects!

sincerely,
lavender rat!

Thank you Everett and Anne. The videos are amazing, you have discovered something so very helpful and so unbelievably simple. I'm starting the experiments today, so count me in. I'll report results as soon as I have some.

It seems to me that the slight but widespread pressure on the skin must realert the brain to the existense of the part of the body that is being touched. The touch wakes up the brain which otherwise progressively neglects or forgets or abandons one part of the body after another. Paralysis agitans is really a perfect name for this crazy dis ease.

...that's the problem. It doesn't require compression, for starters. Just lightly draping a piece of cloth across a limb has done it. Then there is the fact that treating one part ( e.g. the arm) also effects seemingly unrelated parts (e.g. relaxing the Parkinson mask). Originally I thought the low-level stimulation was triggering a resisting response in the muscle and thereby preserving tone. But the non-local effects mean it just about has to come from the CNS and presumably the brain. Give it another try. You know more than most.

Does a cloth tied tightly around the wrist / lower forearm have just the same effect as a cloth resting on the wrist / lower forearm ?