This group is using ping pong to help treat patients with Parkinson's disease
Uncontrollable tremors, muscle stiffness and loss of balance. Just some of the unmistakable symptoms of Parkinson’s. This disease of the nervous system ultimately impacts a person’s ability to function and gets worse over time.
But a group is trying to help treat this dreaded disease through an exercise that might seem surprising. Ping Pong Parkinson is a non-profit established in 2017 in New York as a way to raise awareness of the benefits of ping pong for folks with Parkinson’s disease. The goal is to slow the progress of the disease by using the game as a form of physical therapy. It’s based on the idea of neuroplasticity.
“It can improve their hand-eye coordination and balance,” says neurologist Dr. Elana Clar, from Hackensack Medical Center. Clar is the co-founder of the New Jersey chapter of Ping Pong Parkinson. “There’s a lot of anxiety and feelings of being self conscious about their motor decline. And this is a fun activity that helps them socially engage with like-minded active individuals who also happen to have Parkinson’s.
This Jersey group meets every Tuesday at Ready to Golf in River Edge for about 2 hours. The evening begins with some light warm-up exercises to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Then it’s on to the tables to work on their ping pong skills. The patients are called “pongers.” The volunteers, “hitters.” This week, volunteers from the Fairleigh Dickinson University tennis team were on hand to play.
Whether you’re experienced or playing for the first time, the sport of ping pong is just fun. For these patients struggling with disease, it’s all about learning how to play the game, having fun and being part of a community unified to fight back against Parkinson’s.
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