Standing in standing frames

Some people with MS can also experience changes in their muscles – making them very tight.  This increased tightness is sometimes accompanied by spasms.  Clinicians call this change in the muscles ‘increased tone’.  Some people find that increased tone or spasms in arms and legs can be helped by ‘weight bearing’ – taking weight through your arms and legs.  This can be achieved by, for example, having your arms outstretched and leaning through them on a table, or standing up.

For some people, due to weakness and changes in their muscle tone, it can be very hard to stand or walk.  If you need support to stand, standing frames might be helpful for you.  Getting up into standing can help dampen down spasms and also allows you to exercise in standing, or do different types of activities.

The University of Plymouth have recently completed a large randomized controlled trial evaluating standing in MS. The study is called ‘Standing Up in MS’ (SUMS) and as part of the study, the team have produced a set of resources to help people use standing frames. 

You can read about the study, see films about how to use standing frames, exercise while standing and hear how people with MS have benefitted from using standing frames.

You can see all of this here: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/sums