Because of her Parkinson's disease, sometimes when my mother is walking, she "freezes" and gets stuck, unable to move forward. This happened one time when we were in a bookstore together. Is there anything I can do to help her when this problem strikes?
Expert Answer by Susan Imke
Getting stuck in place tends to happen when people with Parkinson's disease are anxious or feel rushed, or when they're navigating small passageways like going in and out of elevators or through a doorway. It's embarrassing and awkward for them.
One bit of advice is to resist physically or verbally tugging on your mother. Spouses do this all the time -- take the person's hand and pull her along. Or sometimes verbally or through eye contact, the spouse nudges the patient to "come along." None of these approaches are helpful or effective.
So never rush your mother, because the freezing will go away spontaneously. Sometimes, just sitting down for a minute (if she's in a place where that's possible) will relieve the problem. Another trick is to place your foot on the ground in front of her and tell her to carefully step over it -- this could break that freeze. You might want to have a doctor demonstrate this before trying it.
Freezing is a forward-motion problem, so your mother can also try rocking side to side. Or, counting one, two, three, four, and walking to that marching beat may work. You can count out loud along with her. Another good verbal trigger is to say, "Try lifting your knee up, Mom." And by not thinking about walking forward but just about lifting the knee, she may then be able to break the pattern.
It's best to talk with your mother ahead of time about the ways you might help when she freezes. What would she like you to do? Give a verbal cue like "knee" to remind her to raise her knee, or "march" if a regular beat is her best way to get going? This way, you have an agreed-upon system in place and she'll have some control over how you help.
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My mother oftentimes "freezes" and I found that a gentle hand on her lower back breaks the freeze and she is able to resume her stride.
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We went to our Parkinson's physical therapy group the day this item appeared--the physical therapist says some experts think the freezing sometimes happens when the brain/body suddenly can't process a need to shift weight. She said the lifting of the knee as in marching in place is very helpful--to get movement re-started first, and then shift weight afterwards.
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My husband freezes while I am helping with his pants. We get the left leg in then he can't move the right leg. I tap his leg and this helps most of the time.
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I am a PD patient that has problems with freezing. When I freeze, my wife will snap her fingers or project a laser beam in front of me. Either of the methods have a beneficial impact.
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I have noticed that when we are walking and my Mom starts to talk she stops walking. She needs to realy stay focused on just walking.
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My Mom freezes too. I find that if I tell her to pretend she is going up a step. Then she remember to lift her foot up. Turnig is also a problem when she is walking because she can't pivot. We try to walk in a big circle insted of turning sharply. It is interesting that she can back up very quickly, but forward is much more difficult.
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