Gadgets and Gizmos That Make Life Easier

That beautiful marble tile in your bathroom, your shiny bathtub, the buttons on your shirt or blouse, the space between your teeth—all should bear “Caution: Danger” signs or “Frustration” trigger alerts. For Parkinson’s Disease, with its toll on manual dexterity and coordination, turns a simple task like putting on a shirt into a battle ground. Walking on slippery bathroom floors can be lethal. Same with stepping over the tub’s edge to take a shower—or even a soak. Don’t despair, gadgets can make your day safer and easier. Starting with a morning routine, I’ll introduce you to a few options I’ve found and recommend. 

Early in the morning, you head for the bathroom. You cannot walk safely, so you grab the walker that you positioned next to the bed the night before. Walking slowly, you are careful to lift your feet and not shuffle, grateful for the non-skid carpets covering marble tiles on the bathroom floor. These tiles are slippery, cold, and make for a hard landing. Entering the toilet room, you smile as you spot the amazing self-cleaning TOTO toilet.

It turns on a light, lifts the lid, starts a deodorizing fan, and provides you with a heated seat. When you are finished, push a button, and it washes your butt, dries you with a warm-air fan, self-flushes, self-cleans, and closes the lid. Finally, it sleeps, awaiting your return. It has settings for men and women and functions as a bidet.

It is a luxury, and in my view, the TOTO is the top of the line, but they make much less expensive toilet seat attachments that accomplish much the same thing (see the TOTO Washlet). Competition is heating up, so prices can only come down. I admit, short of a self-driving car, the TOTO toilet is the ultimate gadget for older and disabled folks.

Showering  

If you do not have a walk-in shower, get one pronto. Showering in a bathtub is dangerous. Once you clear the side of the tub, you step onto and off the slick, narrow bathtub floor. The curved sides provide little room to maneuver. Even with a rubber mat and grab bars, it is unsafe. You have two better choices. A tiny shower, the size of a telephone phone booth, is remarkably safe. Another option is a larger shower outfitted with a handheld showerhead and a sturdy seat. This arrangement is comfortable and safe (see Figures 1 & 2).

Shower chairs and stools come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and price ranges. They are sold by most big box stores, like Amazon, Lowes, and Home Depot. Based on my experience, I would avoid wooden stools; they do not hold up well under prolonged exposure to water, soap, and shampoos. I suggest a chair with a back and sturdy handles or arm supports. Finally, look for height-adjustable legs with secure suction cups for stability on wet soapy shower floors.

Dressing

It takes me at least twice as long to get dressed today as it did 15 years ago. This slowdown is partly due to age but also caused by loss of manual dexterity and coordination with Parkinson’s. I move slower and must think through every move. As the disease has progressed, I find myself gravitating to pullover shirts, clip-on ties, if any, and zippers over buttons. In some cases, it is now possible to buy clothes with only Velcro closures, although I have not found any garments I find comfortable. In the case of buttons, the device pictured in Figure 3 is useful when I must wear a shirt with buttons, and I cannot find someone to help me.

Brushing Teeth

I do not go to the dentist on a regular basis, but when I do, the hygienist asks, “Do you brush and floss every day?” To the dentist’s surprise, my teeth and gums are in pretty good shape, and I rarely have cavities. My secret sauce has three parts:

1. The BIG brush
2. The LITTLE floss
3. The POWER washer

The BIG brush is just that, a much bigger toothbrush. As you can see in Figure 4 below, it has a much larger brush head than the typical toothbrush and an ergonomic handle that comes in both left– and right-hand models. The big brush ensures that when you brush your teeth, you also massage your gums. The handle gives me complete control, it takes less time, and is more thorough than a regular toothbrush. I cover more area with one stroke. Try one, and you may never go back.

The LITTLE floss brought me back to flossing after giving up altogether. It was just impossible to hang on to two ends of the string, stick my Parkinson’s fingers into my mouth and floss. What I call the little floss changed all that. This ingenious device holds the floss for you, requiring you only to place it between your teeth (Figure 5). This tool is not just for the old; kids find it easier to floss, too. These little devices can be found under “Dental Floss Picks.”

The POWER washer is my name for a device that has been around for a long time. The brand name is “Waterpik,” and the one in Figure 6 is an old model but works fine. To review current models with the latest technology, go here.

I brush and floss twice a day. I use the Waterpik every other day or as needed. I started using the Waterpik because I found that brushing and flossing did not always remove food particles from hard to reach areas. Before I used the Waterpik, my gums would bleed but have not done so for years.

Exercise as Medicine

Exercise, it would seem, is the magic preventive for nearly every disease of body, mind, and soul. Do you think your mind is forgetful? Stop with the crossword puzzles and head for the gym. When you are young and fit, you do not appreciate how dangerous vigorous exercise can be. If you are old and have poor balance, you must have a safe means of activity. For Parkinson’s people, postural instability is almost a given. Most research indicates that exercise is beneficial to PD patients, improving their strength, mood, motor function, and bimanual dexterity.

I have never enjoyed exercise for its own sake.  Most of my life, I walked, ran, and hiked, not because I thought I needed to exercise, but because I enjoyed the experience and the feeling when I was done. A few years ago, I recognized I needed to keep active as a form of medicine. I did a considerable amount of research on how I could walk safely. I have reported on that in earlier posts where I discuss the advantages of walking sticks over canes and what to look for when purchasing a walker (here),
and the importance of wearing head protection (here).

Since I wrote about walking, I have discovered a new gadget that appears to offer Parkinson’s patients help in walking more safely. At some point in the disease, the PD patient notices their feet feel like somebody glued them to the floor. Their gait is more like an irregular shuffle and trying to move from a frozen position is often a precursor to falling. Doctors instruct the patient to initiate walking from the freeze with a big first step. The big step solution works, but unless you have the support of walking stick or walker, you risk a fall due to postural instability. The new solution for Freezing of Gait (FoG) uses lasers on each shoe to project a path marking where to step. The product is called “Path Finder” and “ . . . a shoe attachment that provides visual cues to help people with unsteady and irregular gait.” You can find information on the product here. You can find the science behind the laser shoe here.

If you visit their website, you will discover the product is currently available only in Europe. Consequently, I have not tried the Path Finder yet.

Walking, for Parkinson’s patients, is not an aerobic exercise. I searched for a form of exercise that could be done at home, exercise both arms and legs, be aerobic, and be safe. Stationary bicycles are safe enough but only exercise the legs. Treadmills only exercise the legs, but more importantly, they are risky for PD patients. There are other machines, ellipticals for example, that qualify as exercising both arms and legs and are aerobic, but require you to stand and raise the risk of falling. I have concluded that there are two machines that meet the requirements, but one is superior. The two are the rowing machine (Figure 7) and the Theracycle (Figure 8).

This rowing machine is a Concept 2, and you can see it here.

I have a Concept 2 and can vouch that they are very well made and provide a safe, close-to-the-floor aerobic workout. Both arms and legs participate in the rowing motion. The only issue I have had is not with the machine, but if you have a leg or arm that is injured, you cannot use it. I have a torn right rotator cuff and rowing is quite painful.

This machine is a Theracycle, and you can see it here.

The Theracycle Story

The Theracycle is designed to do something that no other exercise machine does. It produces “forced exercise.” When you ride the Theracycle, you must move both your arms and your legs because the machine is forcing you to do so. It was discovered that forced exercise reduces many of the symptoms of Parkinson’s. This discovery was followed by a clinical study at Cleveland Clinic. The conclusion was that “Forced, not voluntary, exercise improves motor function in Parkinson’s Disease patients.” You can read an abstract of this study here.

Additional clinical studies regarding Parkinson’s Disease, cycling, and forced exercise may be found here.

If you have Parkinson’s Disease, or if you wish a safe, at-home way of exercising, then I strongly suggest you investigate the Theracycle.

As you can see, many gadgets and gizmos can be repurposed to suit your needs as you contend with the challenges to your coordination and movement that come with Parkinson’s Disease. Note that most of these gizmos were not explicitly marketed to PD patients or even to chronically ill folk in general. And so, I ask you: What hacks have you discovered that make living with PD easier for you? Share in the comments, please.