PD Lifestyle Hacks
Simplify your wardrobe. I used to be a heels-and-dresses girl. Now the only shoes I wear are contoured cork sandals, because they slide on and lock my feet in.
—Nerissa Mapes Queensland, Australia
A quarter teaspoon of cocunut oil in your morning coffee can do wonders for your swallow function and voice box.
—Frances Evans, British Columbia, Canada
Use Steady-Mouse software. This makes it easier to use a computer mouse when you have a tremor. A blanket support at the foot of the bed keeps the weight of blankets off your feet. Guided meditations can relieve anxiety or help you sleep.
—Janet Landis Blum, Telford, PA
See a Movement Disorder Specialist. He or she can help you find speech, physical, or occupational therapies that are right for you. Then take a boxing class for people with Parkinson’s; this has changed my life.
—MaryAnn McCallum Cavanaugh, Point Pleasant, N.J.
Learn, Listen, Laugh!
—Chrissy Rickert Pecka, Orlando, FL
Start Running. Exercise is the key to slowing the progression of PD and helps make people feel better. I started out by walking every day and gradually built up my workouts by running and walking intermittently. When I run, I don’t have PD. I feel free, fluid, and flexible.
—Carla Collier, Ontario, Canada
Originally printed in MoreThanMotion, Spring 2018.
