Multiple Sclerosis
Staying strong, at your own pace.
Specialist MS physiotherapy delivered to your home in St Albans and across Hertfordshire. No referral needed — just call.
The Principle
What MS physiotherapy is for.
No two people with MS have the same set of problems, and the same person does not have the same set from one month to the next. Fatigue, weakness, stiffness, poor balance, a foot that catches, altered sensation and heat sensitivity turn up in different combinations and different intensities.
Physiotherapy does not change the disease itself — that is what disease-modifying treatment is for, and Sheryll will not suggest otherwise. What it does is work on the symptoms that affect what you can actually do, and keep you moving and independent for as long as possible.
The advice that changed
If you were diagnosed some years ago, you may well have been told to rest, conserve energy and avoid exertion. That was the standard advice, and it has since been overtaken.
The evidence now points clearly the other way. Appropriately pitched exercise improves strength, walking, balance and fatigue in MS, and there is no good evidence that it provokes relapses. A great many people are still living by advice that was withdrawn years ago, and are more deconditioned than their MS requires them to be.
The word doing the work in that paragraph is appropriately. What is right for one person with MS is wrong for another, and pitching it correctly is most of the skill.
What it can improve
- Fatigue — pacing, energy management, and building stamina without paying for it
- Walking — distance, quality and confidence
- Balance, and reducing trips and falls
- Weakness, and strength that has been lost to inactivity rather than to MS itself
- Spasticity, stiffness and the discomfort that comes with it
- A foot that drags or catches when you tire
- Staying active safely around heat sensitivity
- Keeping function through a relapse, and recovering after one
Heat, and working around it
Many people with MS find symptoms worsen temporarily when they get hot — from exercise, a hot bath, or simply a warm day. Vision blurs, legs feel heavier, everything gets harder.
It is frightening the first time, and it is worth knowing that it does not mean new damage has been done. It is a temporary effect on how already damaged nerves carry signals, and it settles as you cool down.
It does, though, have to be designed around. Timing sessions for cooler parts of the day, cooling before and during, breaking work into shorter blocks, choosing what to do when the weather is against you. This is routine for a neurological physiotherapist and frequently missed by a general one.
Why home visits make a difference
Fatigue and heat are both reasons why getting to an appointment can cost more than the appointment gives back. A summer journey to a clinic can leave someone with MS worse than when they set out, and it is a common reason people quietly stop going.
Working at home removes that entirely. It also means the work happens where the difficulties are — your stairs, your kitchen, the walk to your car — and around your energy rather than around a clinic's timetable.
NHS and private, side by side
Hertfordshire has MS nurse specialists and community neurological rehabilitation teams, and where you are under their care, that is what you should be using. Sheryll works alongside them, not instead of them.
What those services are not commissioned to be is continuous. Input tends to arrive as a block after something has gone wrong — a relapse, a fall, a noticeable decline. MS, though, is long and fluctuating, and the useful thing is regular work over years rather than a course of treatment after each crisis. That gap is what private physiotherapy is for.
- As many sessions as are clinically useful, for as long as they help
- Always Sheryll — the same physiotherapist every visit, no handovers
- Sessions timed around your fatigue and the weather, not a clinic rota
- Immediate start, with no waiting list
- Home visits included as standard, with no travel needed
Questions Sheryll is asked
I was told years ago to rest and not overdo it. Is exercise actually safe?
Yes, and that advice has been overtaken. For a long time people with MS were told to conserve energy and avoid exertion. The evidence now points the other way: appropriately pitched exercise improves strength, walking, balance and fatigue, and there is no good evidence that it provokes relapses. The important word is appropriate. What is right for one person with MS is wrong for another, and getting the level right is most of the skill.
I feel much worse when I get hot. Does that mean I have done damage?
No. Many people with MS find their symptoms worsen temporarily when their body temperature rises, whether from exercise, a hot bath or hot weather. It feels alarming, but it is a temporary effect on how already damaged nerves conduct signals, and it settles as you cool down. It does not mean new damage has been done. It does mean sessions need to be planned around it, using cooling, timing and pacing so the work can be done without triggering it.
My MS is progressive. Is there any point in physiotherapy?
There is, though the goal changes. With progressive MS the aim is usually to keep function for as long as possible, keep moving safely, manage stiffness and spasticity, and stay ahead of problems such as falls and contractures rather than react to them. Sheryll will be straightforward with you about what is realistic. Maintaining something you would otherwise have lost is a genuine result, even though it does not feel like progress in the way people expect.
I am in the middle of a relapse. Should we wait until it settles?
Usually not entirely, though what is done changes. During an acute relapse the work is gentler and focused on safety, position and maintaining movement. As the relapse settles, rehabilitation becomes more active, and starting promptly at that point tends to lead to better recovery than waiting for things to plateau on their own. Talk to Sheryll about where you are and she will tell you honestly whether now is the right time.
My foot catches when I am tired. Can that be helped?
Often, yes. A foot that drags or catches when you tire is common in MS and is a frequent cause of trips. Depending on what is causing it, the answer may be strengthening and gait work, a change in how you pace longer walks, or an assessment for a splint or other equipment. Sheryll will work out which and, where equipment is the answer, point you to the right service for it.
Do I need a GP referral to see you?
No. You can contact Sheryll directly. While she welcomes referrals from GPs, consultants and hospital teams, you do not need one to book a session.
Enquiry
Ask about MS physiotherapy.
Tell Sheryll roughly where things are and what is proving hardest, and she will come back to you within one working day. There is no cost to asking and no GP referral needed.
Would rather just talk?
You will get Sheryll, not a call centre. If she is with a patient, leave a message and she will call you back the same day.
Free Consultation
Ready to get moving again?
A free phone consultation to talk through how MS physiotherapy could help.