Best of Recap Episodes: The Fundamentally Different Exercise Lifestyle While Living With Multiple Sclerosis | Dr. Gretchen Hawley
The Lindsey Elmore Show
Lindsey Elmore
5.0 • 529 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- Gretchen Hawley is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and a Multiple Sclerosis Certified Specialist. Dr. Hawley utilizes the concept of neuroplasticity in her online MS wellness program, The MSing Link, to help her clients reduce fatigue, get stronger, improve their balance, and walk better. Her clients feel more energized, empowered, in control over their life with MS. Dr. Hawley has been a keynote speaker at several MS conferences, lectures frequently for MS support groups, and continues to keep herself up-to-date on the newest & best MS practices by attending the MS Consortium each year. Dr. Hawley also uses social media to create more awareness around neuroplasticity exercises that can help improve the quality of life for individuals living with MS worldwide.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Managing Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Exercise as a Therapy for MS
- Neuroplasticity and MS
- Functional Exercises for MS Patients
- The Importance of Intention in Exercise
- Using Neuroplasticity to Improve Strength
- Creating a Stronger Mind-Body Connection
- The Five-Day MS Strength Challenge
- Strategies for Staying Committed to Exercise
- Building Consistency in Fitness Routines
- The Impact of Low to Moderate Intensity Exercise
- Balancing Restorative and High-Intensity Exercise
- Real-Life Functional Goals for MS Patients
- Finding Hope and Inspiration with MS
- Stories of MS Patients' Progress and Improvement
To learn more about Dr. Gretchen Hawley and her work, head over to https://www.doctorgretchenhawley.com/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-lindsey-elmore-show--5952903/support.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Multiple sclerosis is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system that affects the brain, spinal cord, and optic tracks. |
| 0:11.1 | It is characterized in the majority of people by relapses, also known as exacerbations, and remission of neurological symptoms, as well as a variable progression |
| 0:24.9 | of disability over time. In addition to the relapsing forms of MS, a small subset of people |
| 0:32.3 | have a disease course that is progressive from onset, with few or no clinical relapses over time. Rehabilitation is an |
| 0:42.6 | essential component of the comprehensive care for persons with multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis |
| 0:49.6 | is unpredictable. It fluctuates and it progresses over time. Therefore, the rehabilitation team must be |
| 0:57.2 | knowledgeable about the range of symptoms that can occur and be responsive to their variability |
| 1:04.8 | between one person and another. Unlike most neurological disorders, including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, |
| 1:13.0 | and stroke, there is no fixed deficit in MS. The symptom profile, disease activity, |
| 1:20.9 | and MRI burden are all variable. Therapists must be prepared to treat each patient individually with flexibility |
| 1:31.5 | throughout the disease course. Today, we're going to be talking about how physical therapy |
| 1:38.4 | in patients with MS is fundamentally different from traditional physical therapies. We're going to be talking about how |
| 1:46.5 | functional physical therapy can help our bodies to improve our neuroplasticity, improving |
| 1:53.9 | not only muscle tone, but improving the connections between the muscles and the neurons and the brain. |
| 2:03.6 | My guest today is Dr. Gretchen Hawley. |
| 2:06.6 | She is a doctor of physical therapy and a multiple sclerosis certified specialist. |
| 2:12.6 | And we are going to dive in and talk about how patients with multiple sclerosis can reduce fatigue, get stronger, |
| 2:21.2 | improve their balance, and walk better, all leading them towards the greater goals in their life |
| 2:29.5 | that makes it easier to stick to an exercise routine over time. This is The Lindsay Elmore Show. |
| 2:37.7 | Welcome to The Lindsay Elmore Show, a podcast for people who deserve to be healthy. With honest, |
| 2:44.3 | open, and enlightening conversations with doctors, thought leaders, creatives, and spiritual |
| 2:50.0 | gurus, you'll walk away with simple and |
... |
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