MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) & BENEFITS OF EXERCISE: USING PHYSIOPEDAL MOTOR-ASSISTED CYCLING THERAPY
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions worldwide. It is characterized by progressive damage to the central nervous system, leading to physical and cognitive impairments. Exercise is beneficial for people with MS, and motor-assisted cycling therapy is one of the best forms of exercise. This therapy helps improve muscle strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, and overall physical fitness in MS patients. Furthermore, it has been proven to reduce fatigue and pain while improving quality of life. With the help of this type of exercise therapy, MS patients can lead a more active lifestyle despite their condition.
PhysioPedal is a cycling therapy machine that works like your physical therapist that helps improve physical and cognitive health and brain function for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Unlike traditional exercise equipment, PhysioPedal offers semi-recumbent exercise for the upper and lower body therapy for MS with its unique motor-assisted technology that helps you perform MS exercises more efficiently and effectively. Our revolutionary exercise equipment helps MS patients maintain the drive to stay fit and active. The PhysioPedal also helps reduce MS symptoms so that you can get back to doing what you love!
Attempting to find the strength to continue with an exercise routine while battling the symptoms of MS is a tall order. Pain, swelling, and spasms can present a challenge to living well with MS.
However, our motorized technology assists MS patients through their exercise regimen so they can safely, securely, and confidently enjoy an at-home workout. PhysioPedal’s portable innovative construction and whisper-quiet motor combine a safe and effective complement to any Multiple Sclerosis therapy program and will keep MS patients moving towards their physical and health goals.
Neuroplasticity, or brain plasticity, is the mechanism your brain uses to rewire and heal itself. Research supports that stimulating neuroplasticity can allow your brain to recover lost motor skills. Studies show that focusing on high-repetition exercises can help stimulate neuroplasticity and improve mobility. The PhysioPedal Assisted-Cycling Therapy machine assists those with limited mobility in performing high-repetition exercises, which can help promote neuroplasticity in the brain and improve lost motor skills.
Users of PhysioPedal’s Motor-Assisted Cycling Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis Find They Benefit From:
- Reduced fatigue
- Reduced leg stiffness and spasms
- Improved balance and gait
- Improved mobility and flexibility
- Improved motor control
Why Those with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Should Stay Active
In a recent meta-analysis of research into the medical efficacy of exercise for MS patients(1), the authors evaluated results based on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). While there is a great degree of variability in experiment construction, the size of the population invited to participate, and the methods of evaluation of impact across the 20 studies included in the author’s analysis, the key findings come from studies that focused on Progressive Resistance Exercise (PRE)
In studies like the one published by Cakit et al, in the Association of Academic Psychiatrists’ American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation(2),MS patients showed significant improvements after 8 weeks’ participation in a PRE or forced exercise regimen as compared to a control group that engaged in no such activities. A separate study published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal found statistically significant improvement in the 2-minute walk test for each of three exercise intensities(3) – continuous (at 45% of peak power), intermittent/interval (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, at 90% peak power), and combined (10 minutes intermittent, then 10 minutes continuous). The 55 participants showed improvement by 22’11” (+/- 8’5”) in the 2- minute walk test after 6 weeks, with subsequent evaluations at the 12-week conclusion of the program and at a 24-week follow-up showing no significant change.
A key finding in Collett et al.’s analysis was reports of adverse events—leg pain while cycling, predominantly—from participants in the intermittent and combined groups. This shows that, while higher-intensity exercise might be of greater benefit to patients with MS looking to maintain their mobility and limit the impact of the progressive neurological condition, such activities are not always well tolerated—raising the need for a means of maintaining physical activity at sufficient levels of vigor when the body itself may not physically be able to endure those same actions that are crucial to maintaining a positive medium- and long-term outlook while living with MS.
A second literature review, this one published in the Journal of Neurology(4), scoured the PubMed database for studies meeting eligibility criteria, including:
- Clinical diagnosis of MS free of exacerbation; and,
- Intervention with exercise therapy, measured as activities of daily living (ADL; for example, placing dishes on an elevated shelf, stand-walk-sit tests, etc.)
PhysioPedal is the best Motor-Assisted Cycling Therapy Exercise Machine for MS
All of the above studies have considered exercise as it affects patients with MS who are free of exacerbation. One study, however, also looked at the effect of a passive cycling exercise program on non-ambulatory progressive MS patients(5). Patients used a motorized exercise cycling machine similar to a PhysioPedal over a 10-week study period, engaging in 3 weekly sessions consisting of 20 minutes of lower limb passive cycling exercise, with lower limb spasticity assessed at 10 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months, using the Modified Ashworth Score (MAS), with results across the 40 study participants strongly indicating that passive exercise contributed to a significant decline in the MAS for several muscles and muscle groups associated with limb spasticity and balance.
Research also supports that focusing on high-repetition exercises can help stimulate neuroplasticity (the mechanism your brain uses to rewire and health itself) and improve your mobility.
Doctors, physical therapists, and researchers continue to discover the benefits of Multiple Sclerosis exercise for MS patients. Our MS customers love their PhysioPedal for its proven efficacy in reducing symptoms and improving the overall quality of life.