The damage that multiple sclerosis does to your nervous system can make simple tasks hard to accomplish. Luckily, patients can turn to their doctor for help and work with them to develop an effective, personalized therapy plan.
Occupational therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on different movements and exercises that enables the patient to better navigate daily tasks.
Consistent occupational therapy can help patients return to a more normal life and enjoy tasks like cooking, driving, walking, and other day-to-day activities.
Attending occupational therapy can be essential for multiple sclerosis patients who want to recover or maintain strength that helps them navigate daily life. It’s important to work with your doctor and occupational therapist to develop a plan that will help you get back to living a full life!
The first step in working with your doctor is listing out symptoms that interrupt your daily life. Is there any pain, numbness, or tingling that is prohibiting you from performing an activity?
Are you having any balance issues? Bring any symptoms up to your doctor as this will help inform the best course of action. A helpful exercise to find interruptions within your day is to walk through your daily schedule. Consider how your day goes from when you open your eyes to when you close them at night.
What parts of your day are most challenging? Is it getting out of bed? Brushing your teeth? Putting a belt on? Walking through your day will make sure that your healthcare provider is aware of all the challenges you face. Once you talk through our symptoms, voice any other concerns with your doctor.
This is a time to be honest and upfront about any questions or anxieties you may have about your condition and how it is affecting your daily life. Giving your healthcare provider as much information will be more beneficial for you in the long run.
You May Also Like
Once your doctor gets all of the information they need, then they can begin developing a treatment plan. While this plan may center occupational therapy, also keep in mind that this can include assistive devices as well.
Assembling a toolkit of assistive devices through your house, can make your daily activities much easier.
Nowadays there are devices that can help in any realm of your life. There are devices that assist in the kitchen, bathroom, car, and other areas of your life. In terms of occupational therapy, this plan will focus on improving your strength. This doesn’t necessarily mean lifting weights!
A lot of physical therapies have patients work against body weight or resistance to increase their strength. Your occupational therapist will most likely have you doing different exercises with a cable machine or resistance bands to slowly strengthen your muscles.
Additionally, they will likely give you exercises to do at home to keep up this strength outside of the therapy facility.
Although these movements might not exactly mirror your daily activities, you may notice that daily activities become easier due to your strengthened muscles. It’s also important to keep in mind that these exercises may hurt or your muscles may become sore. While pain is not okay, soreness is to be expected when working muscles consistently.
If any exercise makes you uncomfortable or is painful, immediately talk to your occupational therapist about alternatives you can do.
Talk to your doctor at your next appointment about how you can work together to create a therapy plan. Be ready with symptoms you are suffering from and how they are impacting your daily life. Be ready to put in the work to get you stronger and back to a more normal life!
