Proprepception........yep, that is the word the therapist used with me too.
However, I had the hardest time trying to figure out what she meant. I could
not figure out where my feet were unless I was looking at them or they had a
mirror in front of me and I was trying to move one foot then the other. I
could see them then. However, when they took the mirror away I was again
'lost'.
My therapist tried to explain it this way.
She sat in front of me and put her arm out behind her back at shoulder height.
She said as she moved it up and down that the message that went from the arm to
the brain and back to the arm was instantaneous. That is why when she couldn't
even see her arm her brain knew where it was in space and what it was doing.
However, with my legs the message that goes from the foot up the leg and then
the spinal cord to the brain was interrupted because of the damage to the
nerves in the spinal cord.
That made sense the day she told me and I used it to try and keep focused when
I was trying to get my feet to move. Not sure how it worked but eventually I
got the feet to work. However, the messages still get mixed as my feet or toes
legs bump into things and stub themselves and fall over things when I don't
lift the feet high enough. So the messages are still garbuled 5 1/2 years
later.
Some of the message gets there but uses different pathways I guess.
My simplistic way of understanding these things.
I remember sitting in the car in a grocery store parking lot. Hubby had gone
in and I sat there watching men, women, children even a little dog walking and
trying to figure out how the heck they knew where their next step was going to
land when I couldn't do that. It was very frustrating.
Heather in Calgary (snow has stopped but it is very chilly & dull)
----- Original Message -----
From: Trudy Ogilvie
To: Pieter and Heather
Cc: jharpe...@aol.com ; tmic-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [TMIC] Balance
Heather & Barbara,
I use a chair in the shower. I do not feel safe standing in a shower.. My
therapist also
recommended wearing ankle weights around the house. They definitely make you
aware of where your feet are most of the time. She has used the word
propreoception many times and I asked her can you improve on it. She said yes,
but it's a very, very slow process and she wasn't sure about my improvement. I
use a walker, I am a lector (reader) at church and I can
hold onto the lectern for balance. I'm so sorry Barbara you had to quit
singing. When I go out with friends I use a cane. As long as I have someone's
arm to hold onto I can do o.k. but I
am waiting for the day that all I need is a cane....
Take care!
Trudy (in rainy damp Virginia.... which is not helping my legs today!)
P.S. Gunny, thanks for replying I would have been trying to remember that
name all day!
On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:04 PM, Pieter and Heather <pieterheat...@shaw.ca>
wrote:
Barbara,
I find the same thing. I was especially happy one day when I realized that
I could close my eyes in the shower when washing my hair. It doesn't 'always'
work as I do find myself closing my eyes but tend to keep the tip of my elbow
against the wall of the shower.....the balance thing again. I didn't know
there was a name for it.
Heather in Calgary
----- Original Message -----
From: jharpe...@aol.com
To: mother...@gmail.com ; tmic-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 7:32 AM
Subject: Re: [TMIC] Balance
Yes, that's one of my continuing problems. My balance is worse when
standing still (even with eyes open) than walking, though I sometimes lose
balance while walking, too.
When I was taking physical therapy, my PT had a name for that, but I
don't remember what it was. She had me stand on a pillow with my eyes closed
and lean as far as I could in one direction and then another while she stood by
to catch me if I fell (don't try this at home alone!!!)
It's improved, but it is still a factor. Sometimes at church a larger
group will be singing across on stage just holding their music, and I think, I
could never do that! I ended up leaving choir because I felt like I couldn't
keep my balance. Having some reference point helps -- the back of my legs
touching a chair or just touching a table or the wall. I don't need to hold on
to or lean on something, usually -- just have something to touch.
Barbara H.
http://barbarah.wordpress.com
In a message dated 4/14/2009 9:25:04 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
mother...@gmail.com writes:
P. S. I cannot close my eyes and balance myself. I get dizzy.. anyone
else???
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