Brief Case of Patient with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome:
Susan was 32 years old when she began her Feldenkrais inspired physical therapy sessions at the Wellness Station. Prior therapy included three different sets of sessions of traditional physical therapy. Susan said, “I felt like I was being taught to move in a rigid fashion!”
Her primary concerns were-
1: Her inability to safely manage weight bearing situation’s
2: Bilateral lower extremity joint pain.
She required using a railing to go up and down stairs. She could not safely manipulate up or down any steep inclines. When climbing more than one flight of stairs, her husband often provided her with support from behind.
After three sessions, she described experiencing minimal discomfort and significantly enhanced weight-bearing confidence. By her seventh session, she was independently going down a very steep embankment to dismantle a fence on her property!
Susan’s stated, “I now feel like my brain knows how to provide the appropriate actions for my life’s intentions!” She learned to enhance neuromuscular patterns of function for all of her spinal and weight-bearing joints similarly to someone learning all of the keys of the piano to play a tune!
Written by Paul McAndrew, PT, GCFP and The Wellness Station Team