Therapies and allied health
Physiotherapist
Works on how you move, how to keep moving safely, and how to protect joints and comfort as muscles weaken.
A physiotherapist looks at movement, strength, stiffness and balance, and helps you keep doing as much as you safely can. In ALS/MND the aim is usually not to build strength back but to protect what you have, keep joints comfortable, reduce falls, and make walking or transferring safer for as long as it is realistic.
How you reach this person, and who pays, depends on where you live. Set your country in Location and Compass will show what applies there.
What they can help with
- Stretching and range of movement, which is often what keeps a shoulder or ankle comfortable
- Advice on exercise that helps rather than exhausts, which is a real distinction here
- Falls, balance, and what to change before rather than after one
- Walking aids, braces and splints, often with an orthotist
- Positioning, transfers and hoisting, often with an occupational therapist
- Chest physiotherapy, breath stacking and cough assistance in some services
- Teaching whoever helps you to move you without hurting either of you
When you might meet them
- Early, so there is a baseline and a plan rather than a reaction
- When walking has changed, or you have started holding furniture
- After a fall or a near miss
- When a joint has become stiff or painful, particularly a shoulder
- When clearing your chest has become harder
- Whenever the people helping you are lifting in a way that worries you
Things you could ask about
- How much exercise is helpful for me, and how would I know I had done too much?
- What should we be doing daily, and who can help me do it?
- Which of these aids is worth trying now rather than later?
- Can you show whoever helps me how to do this safely?
- When should I be reviewed again?
Not to be confused with
Not a personal trainer, and the goal is not to get stronger through effort. In ALS/MND, exercise that leaves you exhausted the next day is usually too much, and a physiotherapist is the person to work that line out with.