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PART 1: Restoring The Workplace: How to Request Accommodations or Apply for Disability
MS is usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 45 — right when your career is getting off the ground or in full swing. But MS can make it difficult to hold down most jobs between the fatigue, brain fog, and physical weakness. And an estimated 70% of MS patients leave their job within 10 years of a diagnosis. In this workshop, we’ll review the process for requesting workplace accommodations from your employer. Plus, you’ll learn how to apply for disability and how to file an appeal in case of a denial.
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PART 2: Restoring Everyday Life: How Occupational Therapy Can Help
In this section, we’ll talk about occupational therapy (OT) and its role in helping patients restore their ability to perform everyday activities, both at work and at home. You’ll learn the types of assessments and interventions that occupational therapists use to remain engaged in work, home, and community life, including OT specialties that address low vision, poor hand function, driving and community mobility, assistive technology, feeding, environmental accommodations, balance, and mobility. We’ll also cover hand function and rehabilitation and how problems with talking and swallowing are evaluated and treated. You’ll also learn the roles of talk therapies, art therapy, music, and recreational therapy as clinically-validated tools for improving quality of life.
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PART 3: Restoring Movement: How Physical Therapy Can Keep You Moving
Chronic pain may be related to wear and tear of joints and tendons or abnormal movement patterns. In this section, we’ll review the type of assessments and interventions that physical therapists (PT) use to help patients address walking problems, back pain, and other muscle and joint pain problems. We’ll discuss the role of muscles as an endocrine organ and the problem of learned disuse of our muscles and how to reverse it. We’ll also cover the latest technologies to promote strength, balance, and bone density. You’ll learn about high-intensity interval training, intermittent hypoxia training, and electrical therapy devices like microcurrent, frequency-specific microcurrent, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.
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PART 4: Restoring Muscle Function: How Electrical Stimulation Works
Electrical stimulation of muscles was first used by athletes to grow larger, stronger muscles. Today, it’s transforming the lives of those with acute spinal cord injuries and those with muscle weakness due to MS and other neuroimmune conditions. In this session, we’ll review various electrical therapy devices used in rehabilitation, including functional electrical stimulation (FES) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). We’ll review the research, available devices, and programs Dr. Wahls has used in clinical trials. We’ll also talk about the metabolic, hormonal, and training benefits of using either FES or NMES, how to access these devices, the professionals who use them, and examples of others who have restored their walking function.
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PART 5: Restoring The Nervous System: The Latest Technologies
In this session, we’ll review non-invasive devices that use electrical or magnetic current to stimulate the brain. We’ll go over the research on the impact these devices have on fatigue, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. You’ll also learn about the impact of light on circadian rhythm, sleep quality, and mitochondrial function, and the role of red light, near-infrared light, and low-level laser treatments in rehabilitation. Finally, you’ll leave with research on light therapies, how to access light and light therapy devices, and the science of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
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PART 6: Restoring Workplace Function: Addressing the Most Common Drivers of Job Loss
The most common disabilities that lead to job loss include fatigue, cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. Fortunately, these are the disabilities that patients are often able to remarkably improve. In this session you’ll get the strategies Dr. Wahls uses with her patients to help reduce disabilities and begin restoring function. With the right interventions, meaningful improvement can be observed within 3 months, including reductions in fatigue, brain fog, memory loss, anxiety, depression, poor sleep, pain, and spasticity.
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PART 7: Restoring The Body: Addressing Bladder, Bowel, and Sexual Issues
Nearly 80% of people with MS and neuroimmune issues will develop problems with bladder and bowel control and sexual function. Unfortunately, physicians rarely ask about bladder and bowel issues and ask even less about sex. In this session will discuss the specific therapies and tools available to help with these issues. We’ll also talk about managing constipation, reducing bowel accidents, and improving bladder control. We’ll then examine why sexual problems develop, how to evaluate the potential causes of sexual issues, and what can be done to restore sexual function.
