Atrophy of hands

Barbie300 · November 16

My DH is in the middle stages of Alzheimer’s and has been developing atrophy of the hands making it hard to button shirts, open jars or do a lot of things requiring finger dexterity. He is going to PT but is told each visit that he needs to do a set of exercises to 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. I have to keep reminding him to do these and actually help him remember how to do each exercise. I am getting tired of having to convince him to do them because he is very resistant. He says he needs to do them but keeps saying he will do them later. This is taking up a lot of my time and I don’t know at what point to back off or keep after him about it. What does anyone think I should do?

trottingalong · November 16

My husband has carpal tunnel with numbing of the fingers which causes him to drop things often. He also has atrophy of both thumbs. I have given up on attempting to help or encourage exercise at this point. He forgets he should do them and then complains they don’t make a difference if we attempt to do some stretching. His mind isn’t going to get better, nor are his lungs (emphysema) so the best I can do is keep him as comfortable as possible.

Vitruvius · 12:33AM

My DW is now in Stage 7f. Over the years we tried PT and OT twice for loss of muscle control and balance issues. Getting her to do the exercises was difficult, PWD can't be "trained" to do exercises it just doesn't stick. For my DW to do exercises I had to coach her continuously. Each time I just gave up. In the long run it became obvious that as my DW declined she was losing muscle control at the brain level, and no amount of strengthening or exercising was going to help. She was a very fit and active individual and only in her 60's so she should have been able to keep her fitness for years, but it was not to be. Maybe in the early stages it might help some, but I think once in Stage 5 I'm not sure recovery is possible.

Sorry, but I think this is the reality of dementia.

SDianeL · 4:36AM

you could try right after breakfast and say it’s time to do them. Promise him a treat. Ice cream, car ride, etc. If he resists, I would try again the next day. If that fails I would give up. The problem is that he no longer remembers how to do them and doesn’t understand times of day. Would a stress ball to squeeze work?

Maru · 4:24PM

You can work to keep your LO as fit as possible but in the end it is the brain that is going to dictate what the muscles will do. I am not quite a defeatist. If your LO was willing to do the exercizes that would be great but, as it is, it seems that the only exercize being done is you using your voice to remind him to do something that he isnt' doing. You don't have the power to make him do anything he doesn't want to do, even if it would be helpful to him. He may not have the cognition to connect the dots between exercizes and his being able to have better control of his hands.

Atrophy of hands

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