Looking for some exercises

[dubrewski]

Let me start off by saying I'm sorry if this post is jumbled and hard to read, I'm not to sure the best way to say what I'm wanting to say.

I am looking for some easy stretches or yoga moves for a double below the knee amputee. About a year ago my dad lost his second leg and ever since then he is becoming less and less mobile. When he still had one of his legs he could get around pretty well and would rarely need the use of his cane. Now he cant even make his way to the bathroom without having at least one crutch. I feel a lot of it has to do with his back. Its nearly impossible for him to stand up straight and his normal stance when standing makes him look like he is trying to touch the ground. I would like to find some simple exercises that I can start to do with him to help improve his back and his overall health and mobility.  Thanks.

- Dubrewski

[cherylm]

Has he seen a physical therapist to guide him through some simple stretches? Does he have at least "temporary" prostheses and something like a frame style walker he can use to help with balance? I'm not a "yoga" person, but something as simple as standing straight with your back against a wall and using a walker or a sturdy kitchen chair to maintain stability while you do some simple knee-bends (not full "squats" until he's very sure of his strength) can help to strengthen his lower back and core muscles. So can sitting on a balance ball, or simply standing and batting a balloon around, trying to keep it aloft and moving as needed to do that, can help loosen him up.

I know that a good number of traditional yoga moves are done seated and/or lying on the floor. That can be really tough for a newer amputee, but it might be possible for him to do some simple stretches on a firm sofa or mattress.

Good luck to you both!

[dubrewski]

I never thought of a balance ball, I can see that helping quite a bit. He has seen a physical therapist once or twice but has never stuck with it. I have been looking into chair yoga which is for the elderly and people with limited mobility but with never doing yoga myself its kinda hard to say what will work and help and what might do more damage. For now I think I will just try and help him with some balance exercises like you mentioned. Thanks.

-dubrewski

[ann-]

Hi dubrewski

Sorry to hear about the problems your dad has been having.
I am a double below knee amputee too, I do do some yoga exercises and stretches and things too, but I wouldn't like to recommend any specific ones for someone like your dad who has only just become a double amputee. He would probably benefit more from going regularly to a physical therapist to get some advice.

I wasn't quite sure if your dad was walking with prosthetics yet or not, but I just wanted to pick up on the balance ball that was suggested ... I know there are different types and different sizes, but if its the large gym type balance ball you are thinking about, I would say that this is probably quite difficult for a new double amputee to manage on their own, especially if not wearing prosthetics. Probably best between parallel bars in a gym under supervision, you do need pretty good core muscle control for this. I know myself this is quite difficult, it can make you vulnerable, and if your muscles are not strong its very easy to lose balance and end up hitting one of your residual limbs on the floor.

Probably a safer option might be sitting on the floor or somewhere safe and playing a simple game of catch with a soft ball. You can also get small wobble cushions to sit on to help with core control, but again these are best used sitting in a safe environment or batting a balloon around as Cheryl suggested. Over here in the UK most new amputees are given basic exercises they can do to strengthen and stretch muscles, so wonder if he'd been given anything like that.
If he is spending time sitting in a wheelchair, he is like to get quite achey and stiff, so if he was able to spend some time lying on his stomach at some point in the day this might be helpful for him too.

Remember if your dad is not walking or wearing prostheses it will be very easy for him to overbalance, which is why in the beginning its probably better to get trained advice on what is safe and what is not.

Hope you don't mind me mentioning this, it just sent alarm bells ringing a bit.

[dubrewski]

No worries Ann, I welcome any and all input. Sorry If I wasn't clear in my first post but he does have prostheses and is able to walk to a degree. I'm slowly trying to get him to agree to go see physical therapist but its a little difficult. He is not one to ask for help or even willing accept help offered to him. I think a lot of it has to do with control issues which is a whole different topic. That's why I was looking for things that I could casually help him with or that he could do on his own.

[ann-]

Sorry Durewski, I didn't know whether your dad had his prostheses or not, but think you are definitely along the right track about things that can help your dad to do things on his own, perhaps if you can turn things round so it doesn't look like 'help' as such, just little things that might help him to feel more independent and perhaps more in control of his life, it is very hard to come to terms with when you suddenly can't do things you once took for granted and when people are doing things for you.

I am not far off your dads age, so have grown up children probably around your age and think probably if this was to happen to me at this point my life I might very well react similar to your dad. I imagine your dad is still coming to terms with losing both legs, so to some extent might very well be grieving about this, he might also have some pain or uncomfortable sensations in his legs that he is not sure about or perhaps doesn't want to talk about, but might at the moment feel a bit unmotivated about things. So perhaps if he was able to talk to someone properly about his feelings that may help.

Also wondered if you dad has access to the internet and whether he is able to access forums like this where he could talk to other amputees, or perhaps catch up with friends or past interests, does he have this or is that a possiblity perhaps something you could set up for him. Perhaps that could get you both involved in talking about things and enable him to realize that he isn't alone in his situation etc. etc.