Leg Exercises for a lady with ms that her Carers can do

Hi there, i’m a community carer and I look after a lady who has ms, not gonna lie I don’t know much about the condition, all I know is that she is bed bound and has no use of her legs. She has no physiotherapist or any support from the nhs, all she has are the Carers who visit her four times a day to change her pad, bedding, clean and cook for her. Are there any exercises I could start doing with her legs, like me moving them in some way that might help her regain the use of them? I really care about her and hate seeing her depressed because of her condition.

How thoughtful and caring of you. She could contact her gp and ask for a referral to a physiotherapist. A home visit from one can be arranged where you can be available to watch and learn what can be done. I’m not sure if regaining the use of the legs will be achievable, but it might help with circulation. She needs to be visited by an OT surely too, for an assessment of what more help, if any, can be offered. It frightens me to think this could be my future one day.

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My physio recommends hip and knee bends for me. It’s easier to demonstrate than describe but I’ll try!

Lying on my back she bends my leg so that my foot is flat on the bed, then she raises my lower leg taking the weight under my knee and under my heel, then she pushes my knee up towards my face and straightens the leg again.

I try to activate the muscles to go with it, trying to pull up and push down as she takes the weight of my leg.

Maybe you could get her a referral to a community physio who would recommend and go through these with you, or try searching the internet to see if there are any videos or diagrams etc.

Good luck. That lady is lucky to have you.