- Why is this video so important to Bob?
Well, Bob has been diagnosed with ataxia
which greatly affects his balance
and he has tried many different ways to improve it.
- Bob is gonna actually offer his opinion,
and I would say his expert opinion,
as a veteran therapist
and someone with ataxia,
and rate these activities
from 0 to 10 and they're gonna be worth some, oh,
and we even have numbers.
It's gonna be official.
- Now the ataxia has also affected Bob's speech
so he's not gonna talk too much during this video.
- So the first thing Bob tried was working with his diet
to improve his balance and walking.
Now he's following Dr. Wahls
who's a physician and she has MS.
She actually improved her condition
from being in a wheelchair
to being able to walk with a cane again,
just through her diet.
- Right.
- Now the goal of this diet was to help her cerebellum,
which is your coordination center,
produce new mitochondria,
which are the powerhouse of each cell,
which could possibly help bring back balance
and walking.
So Bob tried this. - Correct.
- Now the diet is pretty restrictive
for the average person.
It includes eating things such as meat and vegetables.
You have to cut out dairy, gluten, and sugar as well.
So it's not meant for everyone,
but Bob thought he would give it a try.
Now he did not see a lot of improvement personally
with his balance,
but he does think it would be good
for people that have MS,
or possibly some type of head injury issue they've had.
- It'll help by some stomach.
- And it also helped Bob with his stomach issues
that he was experiencing as well.
- But for my ataxia,
I would rank it 1 out of 10.
- 1 out of 10.
So, let's see what we got next.
- Yeah.
- All right, the second thing
that Bob tried was strengthening.
Now strengthening is supposedly related to balance
significantly in some people's book.
So he tried that,
exercises from the hips and below.
Mike, more details please.
(all laughing)
- Now the point of doing these strengthening exercises
is to help Bob get off of a chair,
or on the floor, if he happens to fall.
So the focus is gonna be on the hips and knees.
Now the first exercise Bob recommends,
and he found very helpful,
is called the split squat.
It is kind of a lunge variation
and it's really good for practicing kneeling down
to the floor and getting up.
The next exercise Bob recommends
is doing some sort of hip abduction exercise.
That means bringing your hip out to the side
to help strengthen the abductors,
which help with walking.
And the last thing he did were some hip circles
while laying on his back
just to get some mobility moving in his legs.
- Rank the strengthening exercises a 3 out of 10.
- The third thing that Bob
tried was standard balance activities.
These are activities that,
as therapists, we've used over the years
and it'll be very clear in just a second.
Mike?
- So the first thing Bob
liked to do is called tandem walking.
So he would hold onto a railing at home,
or you can do it with a cane, or assisted device,
and you're gonna simply go heel to toe while walking.
Try to keep your balance.
This is very challenging
for some to make sure to hold
onto something for your balance.
Also, Bob did some sidestepping,
which is simply stepping sideways.
Again, he holds onto a rail for balance.
Now the third activity Bob also does,
you just stay stationary.
make sure to have a walker or chair,
something in front of you,
and you're supposed to bring your feet close together,
like this.
You'll notice most people,
if they have poor balance,
their wider base of support.
Simply standing with a narrow base
for a duration of time,
maybe 15, 30 seconds,
will be enough of a balance challenge for them.
- So Bob, what is your ranking for these activities?
- I'd rank a 3 outta 10.
- 3 over 10, all right.
I was expecting a little higher on that.
(Bob chuckles)
Now the fourth thing that Bob
worked with was his vestibular system.
Now that's within your ear.
Common symptoms that happened with Bob,
as well as other people,
is when you turn your head things start to get dizzy
and obviously, bad for balance.
Now these exercises,
that Bob is demonstrating right now,
is what he did.
We did a whole video on this,
but Mike can you explain
a little more about this before Bob hits me?
- So Bob is doing the more advanced versions
while he he's trying to track his thumb
with head movements right now.
This was probably the most challenging variation.
If you're just beginning,
you don't even have to have your thumb up,
and you can just practice turning your head side to side,
or up and down.
Now Bob is tracking his thumb going up and down as well.
Different people may have different issues
going side to side, or up and down.
So focus on which ones you need work on.
- At first, I would get dizzy
when practicing it,
but after a while,
you adapt and improve.
It's definitely worthwhile.
I rank it a 4 out 10.
- Alright, 4 out of 10.
This is one that people with vertigo
would also use as well. - Yeah, I agree.
- Alright, the fifth thing that Bob
tried was some high tech device.
Actually it's called the stochastic resonance device.
Now that's a lot of words,
but it all boils down to a device like this.
It's Velcro, wraps around the leg in this position,
and here, this little device here,
works with your phone through an app,
and it actually does vibration
which has a specific vibration that you go through your app
on your phone, you work with it.
It stimulates the nerves which actually helps
the muscle contraction and coordination.
Now this has been successful with some people
that we'll get more into.
It can be used, Bob uses it here.
It also can be used on the ankle.
For the arms, it's just below the elbow here.
And actually, for voice and speech as well.
You wrap it around your neck
as well? - Yeah, I do.
- Okay, and the vibration device is right here.
Very interesting.
It's very new.
Does not work with anybody.
But Mike, can you talk a little more about it?
- Now, before Bob started using this
he did a six minute walk test.
It is a common practice in physical therapy.
Basically, you see how far you can walk in six minutes.
This includes your rest time,
as well, is included in these six minutes.
Anyway, Bob tested this out,
and after wearing this for three months
he found he could walk 100 yards further,
as well as stumbling less,
and he was able to pick up his feet more.
- I would give it a 6 out of 10.
- Oh.
- I really like it.
- Good deal.
Are we gonna talk about how to get one?
- Yeah, we will.
- Alright, first of all,
we're gonna show you two very successful cases
that use this device.
First is on a 78 year old woman,
and the next one is a 87 year old woman.
Mike, you wanna give a little more detail?
- So this is Linda,
a 78 year old who has left knee pain
and has had some increased falls recently.
As you can see,
in the left picture she's not wearing the device.
In the middle, she has the device.
On the right, she has been wearing it for two hours
and you can see the significant change
in her walking pattern.
- Alright, our next patient is Olga.
She's 87 year old female
who had spinal decompression surgery,
as well as mini strokes,
and a few other complications,
really causing her walking problems.
- She has used a walker for over three years
and has not been able to use a cane safely within this time.
After wearing the device on both ankles for two minutes,
she was able to stand up and walk using a cane
approximately 60 feet without any assistance.
- That's big progress.
Alright, now this stochastic device that Bob is using,
he gave a a good rating.
We have absolutely zero affiliation with this company
but we do have a link to it.
It's rather expensive.
It's about $1,500.
If you use this link
they will offer 5% off and free shipping.
So you can decide if you'd like to go with that route.
- And if you'd like to check out more videos
on how to improve your balance
you can click on the video link right here.
♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists on the internet ♪