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How Do You Manage MS-Related Balance Issues?
In this column, Multiple Sclerosis News Today writer, Mike Knight, talks about MS and the balancing issues that he faces as a result of the disease:
“Gait and balance issues and MS go together like peanut butter and chocolate. At least they do to me.
“In one way or another, they’ve been in the foreground of my life since I was diagnosed in 2013. I’ve written about my ups and downs in achieving and maintaining my balance, and it continues to be a focus of mine.
“But more and more, I’ve come to think of balance in terms of the lowercase ‘b’ balance and the uppercase version, too.
“I’m pretty sure they’re not just related, they’re inseparable.
The small ‘b’
“In early February, I read the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s summary of findings from the 7th International Symposium on Gait and Balance in MS held in early September 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Among the symposium’s presentations and discussions were the positive results shown by a vestibular rehabilitation program called BEEMS (balance and eye movement exercises for persons with MS). Created specifically for people with MS, the BEEMS program ‘improved balance, dizziness, fatigue, and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers reported.’“Gait problems, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, can lead to ‘concerns about falling and appearing impaired in public.’ They also sometimes can lead to social isolation. In other words, gait problems can lead to anxiety. And anxiety, especially among those with MS, is a fairly certain predictor of depression.
“And why not?”
Read Mike’s full column here: “The MS Balancing Act: Steady As We Go“
Do you have balancing issues related to your MS? Share your experience below.
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