Multiple sclerosis physiotherapy.

Multiple sclerosis is variable in a way most conditions are not. Symptoms differ between people, and between one week and the next in the same person. Physiotherapy for MS has to be built around that variability rather than in spite of it — which mostly means managing fatigue as carefully as we manage exercise.

MS-related fatigue is not ordinary tiredness, and pushing through it reliably backfires. Programs are therefore paced deliberately: shorter, more frequent efforts, planned recovery, and monitoring of how you respond in the days after a session rather than only during it.

Heat sensitivity matters too. Where raised body temperature worsens symptoms, we adjust session timing, intensity and environment accordingly.

Changes to walking are among the most common reasons people with MS come to see us — foot drop, reduced endurance, unsteadiness, and the falls that follow.

The AlterG anti-gravity treadmill is particularly useful here: reducing effective body weight lets us build walking volume with far less fatigue cost. The C-Mill VR adds harness-supported balance and stepping-accuracy work that would be unsafe to attempt unsupported.

Resistance training is safe and effective in MS when dosed properly, and helps with the weakness that follows both the condition and reduced activity. Where spasticity affects movement, we combine stretching, positioning and strengthening, and coordinate with your neurologist where medical management is involved.

Our occupational therapists address the daily-living side — fatigue management strategies, home and workplace setup, and equipment where it helps.

MS is a long condition, and needs change over it. We work in blocks with reassessment rather than open-ended treatment, so the program tracks the condition instead of lagging behind it.

Sessions run at Kirrawee and Helensburgh, with mobile visits across the Shire when a relapse or fatigue makes travel unrealistic.