News & Advice

Physiotherapy and MS Case Study from a Physiofusion client.
#MSAwarenessWeek

It’s quite a coincidence that this week is MS awareness week. Two years ago this week I started on a journey that ended up with an MS diagnosis.

I’d run a 10k mud run on the Saturday, felt great on the Sunday, but noticed that my left leg and left arm felt heavy and increasingly numb by the Monday. I got an appointment with Sam at Physiofusion on the Tuesday morning. Sam recommended that I went to see my Doctor at the earliest opportunity to get a blood test. Sam explained that while my body was tired and recovering from the run, she didn’t like the level of numbness I was feeling or that my balance and coordination were starting to deteriorate. I went to see a Doctor and was admitted to hospital where I spent the next 10 days having various tests. I was relieved to be discharged from hospital but still had no clear diagnosis, just lots of potential ones (some scarier than others). At my worst during that time, I needed to be supported with the aid of a stick, struggled to use my left arm and partially lost the sight in my left eye.

As soon as I left the hospital I started Physio with Sam. We started at the beginning. Sam worked with me to breakdown what the nervous system was doing to my body and work out strategies of how we could improve things. Over those first few months things did start to improve. As the effects of that initial episode started to lessen we practiced exercises to kick start my central nervous system, improve my balance and increase my strength and coordination. Sam also worked with my personal trainer to ensure that the exercise I was doing with him reinforced the positive things we were doing in the Physio sessions. I also saw the podiatrist and nutritionist at Physiofusion to ensure I was doing everything I could to minimise the impact of this and further relapses.

Six months after being admitted to hospital I finally received my diagnosis…..MS! MS isn’t curable, it is unpredictable, it is frightening and overwhelming at times.

I still see Sam every week. When I do have a blip we go back to the beginning and Sam works with me to bring me back to 100% (or as close as I can get) and then we carry on.

Having someone that can explain things clearly and easily puts my mind at ease. The improvements that I made in the first six months gave me hope. So much so, in a months’ time I will be competing in my first triathlon. I have no doubt that I will present Sam with a whole set of new things to fix following this!

If you have any questions on how physiotherapy or other treatments can help with conditions such as MS, please give us a call on 01282 453 110 or use our Free Ask-A-Physio email service to the right of this page.