Duct Tape and a Paint Stirrer: DIY Hacks for Common Parkinson’s Dilemmas

The only tool I’m allowed to hold is my phone. I am not permitted to operate a chainsaw, or a power drill, or a hammer.

This cannot be blamed on Parkinson’s — my incompetence with repairs has been documented for more than four decades.

I’ve always admired those who can fix and build things. People like Fred Phillips.

Phillips, a person with Parkinson’s who writes the Living In Excellent Health blog, has been struggling with freezing — a Parkinson’s symptom in which one’s feet suddenly refuse to move.

This is a frustrating and dangerous condition, and is associated with a greatly increased fall risk. Those with freezing have tried a variety of possible fixes, with variable levels of success.

Phillips learned three things which eventually pointed to his own DIY solution:

First, a few years ago, it occurred to me that I could put pieces of cloth at various places on the floor in order to step over them … I had learned while on a nature walk that if I had something to step over … like a tree root … I could walk okay. The cloths proved to be effective, but not practical, especially when the kids visited with their dogs. The cloth pieces were constantly being kicked about.

Then, last fall I figured out that if I put a fly-swatter on the floor in front of me, I could step over it, then bend down and twirl it around my foot so that it was back in front, then step over it again, and just keep repeating the process. It was a slow process, but it worked. I found it especially helpful for getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night, although it was stressful, mainly because I was half-asleep and bent over the entire time, and occasionally, I would lose my balance.

The third discovery came to me during the winter, while shoveling snow, when I realized that if I needed to move from one spot to another, which was painfully slow and stressful as I crept along fearing falling, I could step over the plow part of the shovel, then swing it around in front of me and step over it again, then just keep repeating the process. Again, it worked, but I found it very slow and not foolproof, because occasionally, I would trip over the plow.

These discoveries led him to take a walking pole and experiment with attaching an object to the bottom to create a “foot.” He tried a cloth, but eventually settled on a plastic paint stirrer duct-taped to the bottom of the pole. He reports this is working well.

You can see his entire post, along with photos of his contraption, here.

It turns out there are some similar items for sale (including a $245 cane with a laser pointer) at places like Amazon. Phillips shows that it’s possible to come up with a workable device with good old human ingenuity and a lot less money.

Some of the history’s most significant advances came from people trying to solve problems in their own lives:

In the early 1800’s, Pelligrino Turri built a mechanical writing machine to help a blind friend write letters. Turri’s creation was one of the world’s first typewriters.

Ralph Teetor, a blind engineer who hated his chauffeur’s jerky driving, designed a device to establish a steady speed. He called it “Speedostat.” The rest of the world now calls it cruise control.

For those with Parkinson’s, the internet has several resources to help DIY-ers address mobility and dexterity issues.

Equip2Adapt has some detailed instructions for making silverware adaptations. Particularly useful are their ideas for using household nuts, bolts and bandage wrap to create weighted utensils.
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The American Parkinson Disease Association’s Everyday Helpful Hints guide has advice on replacing shirt buttons with velcro closures. Some sewing skill is necessary.
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While I am a fan of Kizik and Skechers slip-on shoes to avoid tying shoes, it’s possible to accomplish the same thing for less by switching your existing shoes to elastic laces. Bread and Lock Laces are two well-known brands.

Me? I’ve replaced one set of shoelaces by myself, and nobody died. For replacing buttons with velcro or creating weighted utensils, I will contact a professional by phone.

Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom

For all of you who keep asking why I never post anything from the Jerry Lewis Telethon, here’s Wayne Newton with a surprisingly-frisky Chuck Berry cover.