mobility

I looked at the road, then west to the horizon. It was the Trans-Canada Highway. I was standing just outside Halifax, Nova Scotia. A 23-year-old intending to hitchhike the length of the Trans-Canadian to Vancouver. I’m English but knew this was a rite of passage for young Canadians.

Living with multiple sclerosis (MS) is an education in and of itself. I’ve learned a lot about myself and I am a different person now, nine years after my diagnosis. I hope to learn and grow over the next nine years as MS continues to shape my perspective on life.

When I think of multiple sclerosis and falls, I tend to think about people who are upright and walking when it happens. I hadn’t considered the risks for people who spend most of their waking hours using a wheelchair or a scooter. Many studies have looked at people with MS…

I’ve met Humpty Dumpty, and he is me. I made that discovery the other night when I had a bad fall. It wasn’t off a wall; it was just off a chair, but it felt like I’d tumbled off Humpty’s high ledge. It shouldn’t have happened. I’ve lived with MS…

Second in a series. Read part one.  I’m actually driving! I really can’t remember the last time I had done so. The car I’d had for years from Motability, a car and scooter program in the U.K. to help the disabled enjoy worry-free motoring (it really works, folks), had…

In February of last year, I stopped. Walking more than a few steps was suddenly impossible. I’d fought, taken every medication and supplement possible, but I’d lost. Maybe positive thinking and mindfulness would have helped, but for me, that was a step too far! Research, organization, and…

A Phase 3 trial testing ADS-5102 (amantadine) extended release capsules in all types of multiple sclerosis (MS) is enrolling participants to determine whether the oral therapy can improve walking speed. A total of 570 adults with MS, ages 18 to 70 years, who have difficulty walking will be…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Chair yoga” from April 14, 2018.

In the earlier days of my MS, I could still walk a bit. It was not enough to risk the maze of an airport, so I traveled sensibly in a wheelchair and preregistered as a disabled passenger. My then-teenage son reduced the boredom by placing me facing into suitable…

Researchers at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, U.K., are recruiting 20 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who can walk at least eight meters with a walking aid to test the effectiveness of a five-week exercise program using assistive robotic technology. A patient completes balance and strengthening exercises using the…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How Do You Manage MS-Related Balance Issues?” from…

People with multiple sclerosis may be twice as likely to develop deep-vein blood clots, a condition known as venous thromboembolism, than healthy people do, a study reports. But data linking the two is limited, and its researchers say further work is needed to understand if MS is directly related to…

If MS was just about MS, it wouldn’t be easy, but it would be a lot easier. It’s different for all of us. For me, MS means ambulation is practically impossible. I could manage a few yards, but the risk of falling and spending the day as an upside-down beetle…

“Oh no, not again.” My mind races and time slows as I crumble to the floor. Every downward movement is magnified, and so too is the pain of my twisted left foot and leg. They have become the resting place for my slumping body. My fuzzy and confused mind…

Naboso Technology has expanded its product offerings with new insoles and training mats specifically designed to stimulate the nervous system through the skin on the bottom of the feet. The products were developed to help improve balance, posture, movement and restore motor function, as part of a neurorehabilitation strategy…

Five finalists remain in the running for the $1 million prize being offered in the Mobility Unlimited Challenge, a global competition to promote the development of innovative solutions for personal mobility devices. A panel of expert judges selected the finalists from among 80 applications submitted by teams from 28 countries.

Treatment with Ampyra (dalfampridine) for 24 weeks leads to sustained and clinically meaningful improvements in walking ability as reported by multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with gait difficulties, according to a study analyzing results from a Phase 3 trial. The study, “Assessment of Clinically Meaningful Improvements in Self-Reported…

Mentally rehearsing an ease of walking to rhythmic cues — especially musical and verbal — improves walking speed and distance, and lessens feelings of fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study reports. The study, “Effects and mechanisms of differently…

A non-traditional exercise program that incorporates movements used in ballet was found to improve motor control and balance in women with multiple sclerosis, leading its researchers to recommend dance movements be part of such interventions for MS patients. The study, “Targeted ballet program mitigates ataxia and improves…

“You’ve had a haircut — very smart!” was the greeting at work. Yes, but it was in no way a simple thing. The logistics involved were really that: It took the small army of my family to complete the mission. Until my last relapse six months ago, I could…

Flying isn’t what it used to be, as everyone who’s taken a flight in the past 15 years or so knows. Flyers with disabilities can have a particularly challenging time dealing with airports, airlines, and aircraft. Airports are crowded and stretch forever. Airplanes are crowded, their seats are small,…

Sorry, this story is definitely parochial and about being disabled, rather than narrowly focused on having MS. It also turns out to be somewhat celebratory — albeit starting from a criticism. Before I get to that, a bit of history. The black cab is an international symbol for London like…

Is getting from home to a healthcare appointment a pain in the butt for you? Do you have to search for someone to take you? Do you haul yourself into your car and hope that you can find a nearby parking spot? Is public transportation impossible to find where…

We all know how difficult it can be to find an accessible parking spot — one that allows us to park and get from our car to where we’re going with a minimum number of steps. There aren’t many of these spots in most parking lots, and sometimes the…

I’ve been using a mobility scooter for about 10 years. I use it anytime I need to walk more than about half a city block. I throw it in the back of my SUV, I’ve taken it on planes and cruise ships (I’ve ridden it in 15 or 16…

I knew I had MS nine years ago when I went back to see my neurologist. I’d had the lumbar puncture to prove it definitively, and I displayed all the requisite symptoms. The only question I had was, “Will this lead to me being in a wheelchair?” The…

Last week, my husband and I attended an outdoor concert in a small venue that we used to regularly attend just a few years ago, before my MS affected my mobility. Our last concert there was two years ago, and although I was skeptical about going, the weather was perfect, and…

Leaving a restaurant the other evening, I was stepping off an unusually high curb. Right cane down, left cane down, swing the right leg, swing the left leg, and … uh-oh. Down I go. I’d been asking for it. I’d needed to change the electrodes on the Bioness…

Atrophy seen in areas of the spinal cord is a better predictor of physical disability in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) patients than loss of brain volume, a new study reports. The research was presented at the 4th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), recently held in Lisbon,…

A family wedding in the gardens of a grand country house some 30 minutes from Oxford sounds idyllic. And indeed it was. Not, though, for anyone in a wheelchair. A deep pebble driveway at the front was impassable. It took very strong men to drag me backward a few yards. Going…