Parkinson's physiotherapy.

Parkinson's changes movement in a particular way: it gets smaller. Steps shorten, arm swing fades, handwriting shrinks, and the brain stops registering that anything has changed. Physiotherapy for Parkinson's is largely about deliberately training movement back to full size — and keeping it there.

Standard strengthening has its place, but the core problem in Parkinson's is scaling, not weakness. Programs therefore emphasise big, deliberate, high-effort movement with constant external feedback, so the size of a movement is recalibrated rather than left to internal perception.

That principle runs through everything — walking, turning, standing from a chair, reaching, and the transfers that become harder as the condition progresses.

Freezing of gait — the sudden feeling of being glued to the floor — usually shows up at doorways, when turning, and under pressure. It responds to cueing: visual targets on the floor, rhythmic auditory cues, and rehearsed strategies for unfreezing.

The Motek C-Mill VR is well suited to this. Projected stepping targets and obstacles let us train stepping accuracy, turning and dual-tasking in a controlled environment, with the harness available if falls are a concern.

Falls risk rises with Parkinson's, and the consequences compound quickly. Balance work targets the specific systems involved — reactive stepping, postural responses, and the dual-tasking that fails when walking and thinking happen at once.

Because this work carries genuine risk when done unsupported, doing it in a harness lets us push closer to the limits of balance than would otherwise be safe.

Parkinson's is progressive, so the aim is sustained practice rather than a course of treatment that ends. Many people move between clinic blocks and home programs, with periodic reassessment to catch changes early.

Our exercise physiologists run longer-term programs for exactly this, and sessions can shift to mobile visits if travel becomes difficult.