Living With Polio

Millions of individuals who had polio are living in all areas of the world. Survivors range in age from a few months to nonagenarians (in their nineties). Aftereffects vary greatly depending on the number and location of the nerve cells destroyed by the poliovirus. The challenge or ease of living with polio varies for each survivor, depending on the availability of medical care and rehabilitation opportunities, and their family and social support.

Advice, hints, explanations, etc., are categorized by topic and are searchable. The source of the material is identified.

Reminder: PHI’s post-polio.org and IVUN’s ventusers.org or ventnews.org features numerous articles to assist in living with polio.

Basic Beginning Exercise for Polio Survivors and More

David Guy, MS, CPT USA (ret). Guy is a retired physical therapist who has worked in multiple settings from the Army to universities. He has worked with polio survivors throughout his career. He now helps out with a polio support group in Arizona.

“Exercise admonitions: Take these exercises to your doctor and ask your doctor if it is all right for you to complete this routine.

Non-Fatiguing General Conditioning Exercise Program (The 20% Rule)

Stanley K. Yarnell, MD (retired), California

The non-fatiguing general conditioning exercise program using the 20% rule was designed to restore stamina or endurance for those individuals who have continued to be bothered by profound fatigue following surgery, illness or trauma.

PHI's Statement on Exercise for Polio Survivors

Advising all polio survivors not to exercise is as irresponsible as advising all polio survivors to exercise.

Exercise - The Basics

Muscle stretching and joint range-of-motion exercises are important whenever there is muscle weakness. Preventing tightness, where muscles are weak, is important to maximize function and is particularly important in the chest wall and abdominal musculature if there is a limitation of breathing capacity. Preventing tightness in the hip and knee is important to maximize walking ability when there is significant weakness of the hip and thigh musculature.

Please Be Seated!

Prolonged standing is stressful; some people find it harder to stand in one place than to walk. We need to conserve energy while doing everyday tasks so we have vitality left for the fun stuff. So.....sit down! Sitting while performing activities takes 25% less energy - how easy is that? And the benefits don’t stop there; sitting places less demand on the cardio-vascular system and less stress on the weight-bearing joints. Most important - sitting is safer, especially for those of us with weakness, fatigue, and compromised balance.

Opportunities to Participate in Research

NEW STUDY ON AFM AND POLIO A new study concerning acute flaccid myelitis (AFM... More

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