Ride in an old Landrover - the best muscle relaxant
 

We have an old, beat-up Landrover that my hubby adores and refuses to get rid of, because he can carry anything in it from dirty lawn-mowers, wet dogs, surfboards, bicycles, nine people...you name it, and since it's all aluminum, you just take out the seats and hose it down, inside and out.

It's from 1989, awfully slow and very noisy. In fact, I hate to take long rides in it, because I invariably end up with a headache. :rolleyes:

However, I have noticed that even the shortest ride in this wonderful vehicle causes a general relaxation of all my tight muscles, dissolving all those knots in my back and prompting a good night's sleep.

I suppose the same effect might be achieved by riding in an old Jeep with a mechanical transmission, or by slowly driving any other vehicle for several kilometers/miles over a dirt road, I don't know.

Has anybody else experienced this?

....the long and bumpy road.......
 

Shaking the body of a parkie relieves symptoms.

Earliest writen reports of this comes from the "father" of modern neurology, french Dr. Jean Martin Charcot, who was alerted to this by PD patients who came to see him in Paris on very bumpy train rides of those days. He tried to replicate the idea by making a wooden chair mounted on some mechanical parts an actioned by a manual lever to simulate the reported bumpy ride. He did not do much with it and abandoned the idea.

The same effect, but much more pronounced, was modernly picked up, again by chance, by a cardiologist (alerted by a heart patient, coincidentally a parkie) performing external counterpulsation,ECP, or EECP, and FDA approved method for heart angina, which involves a lot of rhythmic shaking of the body, which literally jumps up from the treatment bed with every impulse of the machine. So amazing were the effects of ECP/EECP on PD that the cardiologist carried out a study with several dozen parkies from all over. Unfortunately the study resuls never saw light of day due to the sad and sudden departure of the researcher.

Nevertheless, the idea is not entirely new, having been pursued by PD expert, Dr. Lieberman, which visited the cardiologist who found the PD/ECP/EECP connection and compared it with a similar, very simple technique, named "acceleration therapeutics", developed by Dr. Marvin Sackner with a sliding bed that moves back and forth at a rather rapid frequency, imparting the body's fluids and innards with a good shaking, resulting in the rather amazing, albeit temporary, relief of PD symptoms.
Likewise, Ed.Phillips, a heart patient and inventor, modified one of his machines to make it effective in the relief of PD symptoms and came up with something called "blood pressure modulation therapy".

Releaving of (for example) a crampy leg by shaking it vigorously by hand by a PT, has been a trick of the trade, long known and used a in many sports, for example, soccer, where it is common to tend to a player's crampy leg by shaking it right on the field sidelines, with the player laying on the grass,in full view.

Finally, there are scientific and intuitive explanations on how and why exercise and shaking (a form of passive exercise for those unable to move by themselves) relieves PD symptoms in several articles by Dr. Lieberman.

If any parkie wants to get a taste of the effect of shaking on PD symptoms, next time you go "off", i.e., get stiff, tremoring, slow, bent, etc., ask a helper to grab both your feet by the ankles, while you lay on your back and then give both your legs, simultaneously, a vigourous up and down shaking, as if trying to send vertical waves along a horizontally extended piece of rope. Another effective way is to have the distressed parkie kneel down on the floor, perhaps resting his head on a bed and a helper grabs and lifts his hand as high as possible and then shakes them together, trying to send waves along his arms which end on his neck. If the helper gets the rythm just right, i.e., frequency and intensity, he will notice beyond doubt the sudden relaxation of limbs which were lead-stiff just a moment before and you, the patient, will/ may be gratefully surprised at the relief experienced from such uncomfortably excruciating symptoms and may begin to wonder what comes into play to afford such relief, which appears to be a combination of the cutting off momentarily of the electrical nerve signals that have you all contorted and a simultaneous restoration of blood flow to the brain caused by stiff neck muscles. Unfortunately, this shaking is very tyring on any helper, and can only be sustained for no more than a couple of minutes at a time, upon which, symptoms return rather quickly. This is what probably discouraged Dr. Charcot early observations. However, with modern resources, i.e., electric motors, gizmos and gadgets, it is possible to impart sustained, precise and prolonged shaking, only limited by the patient's patience, with relief of symptoms now being sustained over longer periods of time, in a way making them permanent if therapy is kept. Now, that is something to ponder and instead of trying to find out the exact mechanism at play, I would make the technique available to the millions who could benefit from it right now. Or, you could borrow Teresa's LandRover.

It almost sounds like those Chi machines, LOL

lay down with ankles in the machine and they shake /swing legs and eventually most of the body.

might be something to check into-
here's a link-
http://images.google.com/images?um=1...=chi%20machine

Yep, old four-wheel drive vehicles, ECP machines and that Chi massage apparatus where you put your ankles and get thoroughly shaken are probably based on the same principle - rattle those parkies through to the bone marrow. :) As I mentioned, the drawback is the uncalled for headaches you get, but I also have to admit that I secretly love sitting high up overlooking traffic and watch all the other cars frantically passing us, while we fly along at a break-neck speed of at least 50-55 mph, like the Beverly Hill Billies or something, wondering why people are so nervous and drive so fast!:D :D

Come to think of it, we are probably holding on to that old Land Rover because it's an icon of days gone by, when people bought a vehicle to last them a lifetime and not to be glamourous or posh. What surprises me most is that lately hip-looking young guys (probably surfers or mountain-bikers or snow-boarders) have been approaching us asking whether we'd like to sell it...never thought I'd see the day!

Landrover
 

I had a Discovery a few years back, disasterous machine, constantly leaked oil and depreciated in value at an unbelievable rate and as my 10 year old son very fittingly said, of it's performance, 0 - 60 mph in 3 weeks.....

Chris

Not quite on topic but...
 

...I have found that simply lying in the floor flat on my back for five to ten minutes does an amazing job of relaxing me. It seems partly the sensation of full support and partly no fear of falling.

Perhaps both break the feedback circuits that keep us in tetany?

Chi machines
 

In my experience, I could not replicate with a borrowed chi machine (body flat on back on floor, ankles on chi machine imparting one's body a fish swimming like movement) the dramatic relief afforded by either manual shaking or the EECP machine. My guess is that the vertical movement is needed to make gravity work on enhancing blood flow.

At any rate, and more important than anything else, I would like to stress the reported longer and longer permanency of symptoms relief afforded by these "passive" form of exercising the body, if one submitts to them on a daily basis, with some parkies who have being on these trials, reporting being able to reduce their levels of medication. While it may not be the "cure", any method that relieves symptoms and reduces medications, with otherwise minimal intervention, pleases my heart darn good.

Whole body vibration
 

Hi Teratxu,
This is called "whole body vibration" these days. I think Juan in Chile is the expert. There is a similar story about a coachload of Parkies who were driven down a cobbled road, and all felt their symptoms improved by the shaking.
There is a company called Power Plate, who sell vibration machines, and I have been trying to persuade my local branch of the UK Parkinson's Society to buy one. They are expensive, and a machine for home use costs about $4,500. However, I found a German vibration machine costing only $250, and bought one. Unfortunately, the machine stopped working after a week, and the replacement machine lasted 3 weeks. However, the company gave me my money back in full.
These vibration machines work by stretching and contracting your muscles. It is like working out in the gym, but the machine does the work. About 10 minutes on the machine is equal to an hours workout in the gym. They also help you to slim.
Best wishes
Ron

stretching and contracting
 

Two possibles that I purchased on Ebay but haven't given a chance yet_
1) A circa 1960 standing belt vibrator with a wide belt that goes around one's hips and does a fair job of rattling one's teeth. Seems indestructible and was just $50.
2) An electronic muscle stimulator. Small controller with a nine volt battery and two independent paired leads ending in sticky pads. Attach one of each pair above and the other below a muscle (i.e. biceps) and turn it on. Carefully. Stretching and contracting guaranteed! The intensity control goes from one to eight but I've never taken it past three! $35 for that one.

-Rick

For the ultimate in "firm" suspension...
 

you are welcome to try my Lotus Elise.

First job is to get in it, (impossible if you want any resemblence of decorum).

Second is to let her fly, 720 kgs, 160 bhp, this will shake you as much as you want.

Ahhh.... best to shut up, I can wax lyrical about my baby for days :)

Neil.