Saturday, February 22, 2014

Trunk Ataxia

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery
Feb 16, 2014

I told a couple of people that I would research trunk ataxia and see if I could make any specific suggestions other than just strengthening the trunk.  I never had trunk ataxia.  I had ataxia BAD, still do but it’s not so bad anymore, and it did not affect my trunk.  It affected my right arm and leg.  I have a friend who has significant ataxia in the trunk and told me that for a while, she felt her trunk shaking even when she was just sitting down.

Here’s what I think……………… balance exercises would be extremely important because balancing engages the postural muscles.  But balance exercises require standing….and balancing….and that’s too much to ask of some people.  Soooo here’s an exercise that I used to give to people right after back surgery to help engage, be aware of, and strengthen those muscles.  It’s fun and it’s a mental game too.  Ok maybe I’m stretching the truth by calling it fun.  Lie on your back and put a blood pressure cuff under your low back.  Then inflate the cuff to about 80 mmHg.  Then you contract both the muscles in your belly and in your low back.  They work together.  Once these muscles are contracted, you do leg lifts and different things with your limbs while trying to keep the blood pressure cuff at 80.  Ataxia is a problem with control and this exercise is all about controlling those muscles.  Also, the breath of fire in Kundalini Yoga gives your abs a workout like you wouldn’t believe.


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