PARKINSON ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
  • PANC Home
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Medical Advisory Panel
    • Privacy Policy
    • Annual Report & 990's
  • Contact Us
  • About Parkinson's
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Recently Diagnosed
    • PD Carepartners
    • Clinical Trials
    • Exercise!
    • Helpful Resources
    • PD Webinars & Classes
    • Guide to Specialist
    • Articles
  • Ways to Support
    • Donate Online
    • Donate by Mail or Phone
    • CAREPARTNER RESPITE SUPPORT
    • Be A Sustaining Donor
    • Planned Giving
    • Donate a Vehicle
    • AmazonSmile
    • Become a Support Group Facilitator
    • Other Ways to Give
  • Español
    • Sobre PANC
    • Clases y recursos
  • Programs/Support Groups
    • Support Groups
    • Respite Care
    • Parkinsonwise
    • Parkinsonwise Trained Professionals
    • Rebuilding Together
  • Newsletter
  • PD classes/events
    • Brian Grant Foundation December 2022 Classes
    • Davis Phinney Foundation -PD self 2023, Webinair series , Every Victory counts & many more
    • Family Caregiver Alliance Webinairs - Dec 22--Jan 23
    • Michael J Fox Foundation -1/19/23 Eating to Boost Brain Health
    • Parkinson 's Foundation Webinars, and events
    • Parkinson Voice Project - Speech exercises Daily 8 AM Info session 2nd Tu
    • PD Active Calendar of exercise, dance, singing & speech classes and support groups
    • PMD Alliance - Online and In person classes and support groups
    • World Parkinson Coalition Research spotlight 22, Sing-A-Long 12/14 WPC 23-7/4-7/7
  • DONATE
Picture
When Your Feet Feel Stuck to the Floor
by Christine Shade, PT, DPT, NCS and Sarah Pinasco, PT, DPT, Kaiser Permanent

Have you ever felt like your feet were stuck to the floor or your legs felt like cinder blocks making it impossible to move? This is something that happens to people with Parkinson’s Disease and is called freezing. The exact cause of freezing is unknown but tends to happen when dopaminergic drugs are wearing off. Freezing can happen when people are in new or stressful environments, when walking in narrow or wide-open spaces, or trying to make a turn. Freezing increases a person’s fall risk and can increase anxiety for the person with Parkinson’s as well as for their family members and friends.
The best way to manage freezing is to prevent it. Aerobic exercise helps control PD symptoms and freezing is no exception to the rule. Other strategies include taking long strides and hitting the ground with your heel first to prevent freezing from occurring. Anxiety is another precipitating factor for freezing. Managing anxiety through exercise, medication, or counseling can all help decrease the frequency of freezing. Be sure to discuss your freezing episodes with your neurologist and physical therapist.
 
When freezing cannot be prevented, there are some simple tricks that help you get out of a freeze. The first step is to stop struggling. Think about quicksand, the harder you fight, the more you sink in. At the first sign of freezing, STOP and take a deep breath, relax and put your weight back on your heels. From there try one of these strategies:
• Count out loud while you step to the beat
• Look at and then step onto a specific spot on the ground
• Shift your weight side to side then focus on taking one large step
• If turning LEFT try to turn your LEFT toe out, when turning RIGHT turn your RIGHT toe out.
 
How Caregivers Can Help
As a care partner, you can provide a great deal of help with freezing prevention and management. Freezing often occurs in a new or stressful environment, so try the following:
• Prevention
– Create a calm environment
– Try not to rush
– Make a plan with your partner about what to do when freezing starts
• Reaction
– Take a calming breath with your partner. Sometimes a simple hug can help.
– Encourage the tips you’ve learned in therapy or this journal as soon as you see freezing start
– Hold hands and shift your weight from side to side as if dancing
– Place your foot out to give your partner a goal to step toward
 
            Freezing increases a person’s fall risk and can increase anxiety for the person with                                             Parkinson’s as well as for their family members and friends.​

COVID-19: There is still limited information about the effects of COVID-19 specifically regarding Parkinson’s disease, having said that, given the frailty associated with Parkinson’s disease, it would be prudent to be cautious, prepared and follow the precautions recommended by public health departments/ CDC.   During these challenging times, it cannot be emphasized enough the need for all, PD community specifically and the
​community at large, to reach out to each other, offer support and assistance to those most vulnerable and share our resources.

​Our Mission

​​The Parkinson Association of Northern California is an organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with Parkinson's, their families, and care partners throughout our region. 
La Asociación de Parkinson del Norte de California se dedica a mejorar la vida de las personas con Parkinson, sus familias y los compañeros de cuidado. 

​Contacts

Email: panc@panctoday.org
Mailing Address:
Parkinson Association of Northern California
1024 Iron Point Road, #1046
​Folsom, CA 95630
​

Phone: (916) 357-6641
If you'd like more information please call the office 
Si le gustaría obtener más información por favor llame ​a la oficina.
Donate
PANC Brochure
Newsletter sign up

Copyright © 2020 Parkinson Association of Northern California. All rights reserved.
​PANC is a 501(c)(3)   Tax ID #68-0372037
  • PANC Home
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Medical Advisory Panel
    • Privacy Policy
    • Annual Report & 990's
  • Contact Us
  • About Parkinson's
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Recently Diagnosed
    • PD Carepartners
    • Clinical Trials
    • Exercise!
    • Helpful Resources
    • PD Webinars & Classes
    • Guide to Specialist
    • Articles
  • Ways to Support
    • Donate Online
    • Donate by Mail or Phone
    • CAREPARTNER RESPITE SUPPORT
    • Be A Sustaining Donor
    • Planned Giving
    • Donate a Vehicle
    • AmazonSmile
    • Become a Support Group Facilitator
    • Other Ways to Give
  • Español
    • Sobre PANC
    • Clases y recursos
  • Programs/Support Groups
    • Support Groups
    • Respite Care
    • Parkinsonwise
    • Parkinsonwise Trained Professionals
    • Rebuilding Together
  • Newsletter
  • PD classes/events
    • Brian Grant Foundation December 2022 Classes
    • Davis Phinney Foundation -PD self 2023, Webinair series , Every Victory counts & many more
    • Family Caregiver Alliance Webinairs - Dec 22--Jan 23
    • Michael J Fox Foundation -1/19/23 Eating to Boost Brain Health
    • Parkinson 's Foundation Webinars, and events
    • Parkinson Voice Project - Speech exercises Daily 8 AM Info session 2nd Tu
    • PD Active Calendar of exercise, dance, singing & speech classes and support groups
    • PMD Alliance - Online and In person classes and support groups
    • World Parkinson Coalition Research spotlight 22, Sing-A-Long 12/14 WPC 23-7/4-7/7
  • DONATE