Writing the last blog on Parkinson's Disease and a conversation with a patient recently has brought me round to writing this blog about the importance of getting physiotherapy early to avoid loss of mobility and not waiting for a huge problem to occur. For example in our recent physiotherapy blog about NICE Guidance and Parkinson's Disease it is recommended that patients with a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease should see a physiotherapist. Now this may be at the stage where they have very few issues and in fact it was only some minor issues that have led to them being investigated and diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Some people may in this position think: "I will only get in touch with a physio when I have real problems". My opinion on this is simple: "Do not wait!!" All too often as physiotherapists we see patients only when they have had a real crisis such as a hospital admission, a fall or large loss in mobility that has taken them off their feet for weeks if not months. Now in some senses it is reasonable that if things are okay people do not think about calling a physiotherapist and especially if their elderly parents or grandparents seem to be doing okay no one wants to interfere. However as physios when we talk to the patients and the relatives it becomes all too clear that this event or crisis is only really part of a slow decline in strength and mobility that has been happening over a long period of time.

As physiotherapists visiting elderly patients with reduced mobility all over the community in Lichfield, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield, Rugeley and Cannock to name but a few of the areas that our physiotherapists cover we see first hand how catastrophic a loss of mobility can be for the quality of life and independence of patients. All too often unfortunately we are called in only when things are very bad and the patient has likely been off their feet for many weeks. This makes recovery a very arduous and time consuming process (if posible at all). My opinion is that in many of these cases early intervention with a physiotherapist and a programme of exercises aimed at strengtheing and preserving mobility could have mae a huge difference in terms of prevention and the ability to recover.

I think if we look at two case studies we may be able to see what can happen. Firstly we have Rose who is in her early 80s and has been fit and active all her life, her daughter noticed that her mum had started to look a bit wobbly a few years ago and asked our physiotherapist to see what might be able to help. An assessment showed that Rose had just slowly started to do less and less as she was feeling less confident and fit and that she was now considering walking with a stick. Our physiotherapist gave Rose a programme of exercises to do at home and discussed her lack of mobility and confidence with her daughter. Rose followed the exercises over a period of time and also got out more with her daughter and friends. Eventually she felt able with the guidance and help of our physiotherapist to begin attending an exercise class and 3 months later was back to her old self. She was then followed up by our physiotherapist every 2 months just to keep an eye on things and make sure that things were going well.

Our second physiotherapy case study is not such an ideal scenario. In this case Stan (mid 70s) has just been discharged from hospital after a fall and a bladder infection. Although he has no serious injuries this admission has completely taken him off his feet. On assessment our physiotherapist discovers that actualy Stan's fitness and mobility has been declining over the years and he has been walking with a zimmer frame for several years now and has a stair lift. There seems to have been no real cause to his loss of mobility and it has just been a consequence of doing slightly less each year. Over the next 6 months our physiotherapist works intensively with Stan and enables him to begin getting out of bed and mobilising with a zimmer frame with support. It takes another 3 months before Stan is able to walk with his zimmer independently and our physio continues to work with Stan on a weekly basis.

I think reading the two case studies above it is easy to see the importance of early intervention with physiotherapy in the case of preserving mobility and independence and I hope that you have found the blog useful.

If you would like help with mobility of have a relative who appears to be losing mobility then please get in touch. We run a home visit physiotherapy service in Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Cannock and Walsall.