A Physiotherapist Comes To Call

A Physiotherapist Comes To Call

In September last year, when it had been decided Mum wasn't reliably able to bear her weight anymore, it meant she would have to be hoisted in and out of bed, and in and out of the chair, so I was keen to make sure she would retain what decent muscle tone she still had.

We have always encouraged her to "....push hard down on the arms of the chair, and lift yourself up!" and get herself comfortably positioned on the seat.

She also knows that if she sits on the edge of the bed, and pushes hard down with her hands on the bed, she can lift herself up from there as well. It's the old jet engine law - downward thrust lifts up.

Over the years that Mum has lived with us, I have introduced a little routine of exercises that at various times, we all ask Mum to do. She will never exercise if it is presented as a PE session, but throughout the day, she actually does quite a lot, and it is always purpose-focussed.

Because she would not now be getting herself up and down and in and out of bed, I also wanted to make sure that the movements I'd worked out to help her, really were doing the job. I asked the Occupational Therapist if she could please arrange a home visit from a Physiotherapist; true to her word, she did.

After a very short waiting time, a young man rang up to make an appointment to come and see Mum. It turned out we had all met before - years ago, when her GP was concerned about the way she was walking, using the stool instead of a Zimmer frame, this young man had come to see Mum, and given her some good exercises to do on a regular basis. On that occasion, Mum had realised they were actually exercises, and most of the time she refused to do them; but it was really good to have this continuity with someone who remembered her.

I showed him what we had been encouraging Mum to do. She can still lift her legs up high - for example, when she is lying on the bed, she can lift both legs in the air together; she can sit herself up and, when she is sitting in the arm chair, and I have to put cream on her legs, I put a dining chair in front of her - in seconds, one leg is up on the seat!

After we have been having a good singing session, I also ask her to raise her arms up and clap her hands above her head; when we go to the bathroom, I make sure Mum is wheeled on the glider to the bath, and encouraged to reach right over and turn the bath taps on so that she can wash her hands properly. She might need help to turn the taps off, but it's all good stretching movement and thinking exercise and whilst she can still do these things, I don't want them to fall by the wayside.

The Physiotherapist was very impressed; he had brought along four pages with illustrations of exercises, and we were delighted to learn that Mum was already doing most of them. So, we carry on keeping Mum's muscles as strong as they can be; she is still unaware that the exercises are introduced into her routine, but they are working - and working well.