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Bayfront Health uses Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) Big and Loud Therapy to empower those living with Parkinson’s disease to improve functional tasks and speak better.
BIG
Physical therapists use LSVT Big to address the unique movement impairments of patients that experience tremors, slow movements, impaired balance and stiffness. Developed from 20 years of research, Big therapy has shown documented improvements in motor skills, balance, trunk rotation and faster walking with bigger steps.
During the therapy the word “big” serves as a trigger to remind the patients to move with more amplitude. When the therapist asks the patient to move big, the patient’s brain is cued to make bigger and stronger movements.
The program trains patients to make bigger movements and teaches the amount of effort required to produce normal movements in real world, everyday activities.
According to Ken Brink, PTA and LSVT Big Certified Therapist, “a typical symptom of Parkinson’s patients is a shuffling gate, where they move their feet in small motions without raising them off of the floor. The goal of Big therapy is to train these patients to increase the amplitude of their movements and make them bigger.”
BIG training increases the amplitude of limb and body movement (“bigness”), which leads to improvements in the quality and speed of movement, balance, and quality of life. The program utilizes many repetitions of movements that are used in daily living with varying complexity and intensity to improve carryover once patients complete the program.
Jim Abromaitis, PT and LSVT Big Certified Therapist states “the goal of this therapy is to help patients regain independence and increase their confidence to perform daily activities. We tailor the program to the patient’s personal goals and interests.
For example, if a patent has lost the capability of tying their own shoe but would like to be able to perform this functional task, we will create a hierarchy of tasks (sit down, put foot into shoe, grab shoestrings and tie) for them to practice in big movements.”
LOUD
Bayfront Health speech-language pathologists offer LSVT Loud. “Declining vocal strength and muffled speech create problems with communication,” said Marissa Davis, MS, SLP and LSVT Loud Certified Therapist. “It is common that individuals with Parkinson’s disease have difficulty being loud enough for people to hear, run out of air when talking, and avoid groups of people and conversations because of their voice,” she adds.
The Loud program strives to increase a patient’s success with communication by improving the patient’s voice and speech function. It is designed to increase the loudness of one’s voice and improve speech clarity through repetitive tasks with varying complexity that lead to carryover in all daily tasks upon completion of the program.
Speech-language pathologists improve vocal loudness by stimulating the muscles of the voice box (larynx) and speech mechanism through a series of loud exercises. Therapy does not train people to shout or yell – rather it trains a healthy louder voice with no strain LSVT Big and Loud Results
There is good news – studies have proven that patients with Parkinson’s disease at any stage can benefit from intensive rehabilitation. Outcomes show that 90 percent of patients improve vocal loudness following treatment with a majority maintaining improvement for 12 to 24 months after treatment.
Patients have also shown dramatic improvements in balance and speed of movement in walking and daily living tasks.
LSVT is an effective treatment program that’s proven to help individuals living with Parkinson’s disease, giving them new hope for improved communication and movement for work, family and social activities. LSVT Big and Loud can help patients with other conditions also, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, multiple systems atrophy, cerebral palsy, and even Down syndrome.
Generally a referral from a neurologist is made for a patient to be considered for LSVT Big and Loud Therapy. Amy Mellor, M.D. and Saeed Shahzad, M.D. with Bayfront Health Medical Group, both have experience working with patients living with various conditions, including Parkinson’s disease.
If a patient is not a candidate for LSVT Big and Loud, Dr. Mellor and Dr. Shahzad will work with therapists to develop a less intensive traditional therapy schedule. For more information, visit BayfrontHealthMedGroup.com, or call (941) 637-2497 for a free referral.
Bayfront Health physical therapists and speech-language pathologists are certified to offer LSVT Big and Loud at three convenient locations. For more information, calll (941) 423-5030 for North Port, (941) 766-4903 for Port Charlotte, and (941) 637-2450 for Punta Gorda.
