Kiley Fasy

Activity one: Multiple Sclerosis (Relapsing-Remitting) -- Stretching

Sources:

Gibson, B. (2019.) ​Stretching with a Helper for People With MS.​ Retrieved from
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/NationalMSSociety/media/MSNationalFiles/Brochure
s/Brochure-Stretching-for-People-with-Ms-An-Illustrated-Manual.pdf

Suszynski, M. ​Stretching Exercises for People With MS​. Retrieved from

https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/living-well-with-multiple-sclerosis/stretching-exerci
ses/

WebMD. (2019). ​Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis​. Retrieved from

https://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis/relapsing-remitting-multiple-sclerosis#1

Equipment needed:

Just your body, but potentially resistance bands, or another person.

Activity Description:

Stretching

a. Firstly, stand up
b. Bend over and touch toes (hold 10 seconds)
c. Slowly stand back up straight
d. Take right arm and pull it over left side of body (hold 10 seconds)
e. Slowly release right arm back into place
f. Take left arm and pull it over right side of body (hold 10 seconds)
g. Slowly release left arm back into place
h. Reach down to right leg and point right foot upward (hold 10 seconds)
i. Reach down to left leg and point left foot upward (hold 10 seconds)
j. Stand back up straight
k. Hold both hands back and grab both of your hands to stretch the chest
l. Stand straight up and lean to right side to feel trunk stretch (hold 10 seconds)
m. Slowly release back to standing
n. Stand straight up and lean to left side to feel trunk stretch (hold 10 seconds)
o. Slowly release back to standing
p. Raise whole right arm up and rotate in circular motion (hold 10 seconds)
q. Raise whole left arm up and rotate in circular motion (hold 10 seconds)
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r. Release back to standing

s. Shake out arms to relax

Activity Analysis:

“Stretching helps people feel looser, more invigorated, and energized,” Rohrig says.
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Adaptation (For MS):

To adapt this stretching for people with multiple sclerosis, I would incorporate more torso
area exercises. This will help elongate the spine, which is important for someone with MS. these
types of exercises would increase spasticity. I would also make sure the exercises are easy to do,
and would not hurt the participant in any way. I would also focus on more fine motor type
stretching, e.g. finger stretching, to help strengthen fine motor areas of the body. As MS varies
from person to person, if the person needed to sit in a wheelchair, I would adapt the stretching to
upper body stretching only. For a person with Multiple Sclerosis, as it is a physical limitation, it
is very common for the body to become susceptible overtime, thus stretching frequently will help
in the long run.