Active Isolated Stretching for parkinson patients - Article Example

Active isolated stretching for Parkinson patients Parkinson’s disease refers to a progressive neurological conditionthat arises as a result of disorder of the central nervous systems. The condition gets caused by a deficiency of a chemical known as dopamine as a result of death of nerve cells in the brain. Common associated symptoms of the disease are motor-related which affect movement such as shaking, rigidity or stiffness, and slowness of movement (Fatima & Lima 4). Other non-motor symptoms include depression, anxiety, dementia, and pain.

Therapies assist in combating daily life for people with Parkinson’s. Many patients have found complementary therapies as beneficial to them. Active Isolated stretching- AIS, therapy has proven effective in treatment of Parkinson’s disease. AIS revolves around the physiological principles of specific muscle lengthening, lengthening of the deep and superficial fascia and increased circulation of oxygen and blood to the tissues. The therapy allows the body to prepare for daily activity as well as repair itself.

The AIS technique incorporates holding each stretched tissue for two seconds (Boelen 37). This assists the stretched tissue to avoid the stretch reflex. In AIS, the agonist muscle always does the work and this allows for the antagonist muscle to lengthen. In relation to Parkinson’s disease, the patients get to re-educate their neural pathways and muscles because of the active component in AIS. Repeated AIS allows the patient’s range of movement to become improved as well as strengthening their muscle tissues.

AIS is a revered technique that assists to improve posture, restore body alignments, help eliminate pain and abnormal curvatures such as Kyphosis and scoliosis. Everyone can benefit from AIS. AIS is a superior therapy in dealing with flexibility problems because it has no age cap or many contraindication limits. AIS has proved to be a popular method of stretching employed by present day athletes, professionals, personal or athletic trainers, and massage therapists. The technique has proved effective in treating autoimmune and neurological conditions (Fatima & Lima 11).

Autoimmune conditions treated by the technique include lupus, scleroderma, and fibromyalgia. Neurological conditions treated by the technique include post-polio, stroke, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and incomplete spinal cord. As a practitioner, I would employ the use of AIS therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease. AIS offers a preventive approach towards treating patients with Parkinson’s. Daily exercise is highly emphasized for Parkinson’s patients. AIS offers a multitude of stretch activity that rectify the posture and improve the movement as daily activities of patients (Boelen 113).

Immobility in Parkinson’s patients is in part played down to a stop in their muscle use and a lack of stretching. A lack of mobility in these patients results to atrophy. Despite its genesis getting attributed to a disorder of the Central Nervous System, Parkinson’s disease can be highly regarded as a muscular disease. The use of AIS therapy will thus help the patients in re-educating and building their muscle tissue thus dealing with atrophy, which in turn will assist in providing them with better movement.

The stretches in AIS are active and this means that movement is initiated by the patient rather than the practitioner.Works CitedBoelen, Miriam P. Health Professionals Guide to Physical Management of Parkinsons Disease. New York: Human Kinetics, 2009.Rodrigues-de-Paula Fatima, Oliveira Lima Lima. "Physical Therapy - Exercise and Parkinsons Disease." International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation (2010): 1-17.