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Hands and Feet: Keep them relaxed and supple
Even though my feet can’t dance anymore due to the symptoms of ALS, I make an effort to massage, stretch, and move my feet every single day. It helps to retain their range of motion, the health of the muscles and improve blood and lymph circulation. The same thing goes for my hands.
These self-care techniques are easy to do yourself, or have a caregiver help do the motions for you.
- In this video, Awaken Your Feet, Eric Franklin from the Franklin Method, demonstrates how to gently move and twist each foot to release tension.
- In this video, Wrist and Finger Care, Diane Waye demonstrates simple hand and finger stretches.
What did you think of the videos? Would you like to try more? Have you tried similar exercises or techniques? Are they helping to maintain or improve your hand and foot mobility?
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2 Replies
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<p style=”text-align: center;”>I don’t presently have problems with my feet. still have good motion and can walk a little bit. however by hands and arms are extremely weak and my figures are starting to curl. They are swollen and it is very painful to straight them.. are there any others experiencing this? do you have recommendations? I’ve tried heat and cold that help for a little bit but I wake up each morning with them curled again.</p>
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Hello Chuck, I’m sorry that you are experiencing hand and arm issues. There may be forum members who have the same thing and can offer you their suggestions.
Have you discussed this with your neurologist or PT? I know it’s hard to talk to them during the pandemic, but even remotely, they can offer help.
I find that when my hands became weaker, I followed these steps:
– Eliminate times that cause you to overstrain your hand muscles: change to an electric toothbrush, drink with a straw rather than holding a cup, use a light grip on cane or rollator handles, take breaks when typing, look for easy closures on clothes eliminating zippers and buttons, etc.
– Do take breaks to hold hands up and open/close fist 5-8 times (moves fluid build-up), avoid long periods when arms hang down side of body.
As for waking up with fingers curled, I know some pALS sleep wearing a wrist/hand brace.
Members… any other suggestions for Chuck?
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