Parkinson’s disease is a nervous system disorder that progresses over time causing decreased muscle control, coordination deficits, abnormal gait, frequent falls, and overall decreased quality of life. Nearly 1 million US citizens and 10 million people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease with around 60,000 more diagnosed each year.
There are a few treatments for Parkinson’s disease including medications, surgery, and Physical Therapy. In recent years studies have shown improvements in motor control and overall increases in quality of life with Physical Therapy treatment in combination with medications and/or surgical interventions. Two of the most recent and popular treatments added to Physical therapy have been boxing activities and Big movements.
Boxing activities have become popular with Parkinson’s treatment because of the core strength gains, improved hand eye and hand foot coordination, increased balance, faster and better cognitive processing, and improved reaction time.
Big movement activities have become popular and show benefits to Parkinson’s patients because of the larger movement patterns involved in the exercises. Parkinson’s patients tend to move in smaller movements with less coordination. Incorporating large movement patterns in exercise helps to strengthen the connection between the muscles, joints, and the brain to make movements more normal.
While Atlas does not have specific boxing or Big movement pattern classes, both are incorporated into our treatment approach for patients with Parkinson’s Disease to maximize outcomes for our patients.
