Tips for Coping with and Managing Aging and CP

To help combat fatigue, try and get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
Take brakes when you get tired…your body is trying to tell you something.
Cold and barometric changes can make spasticity and pain worse, thus try to avoid this and do things to combat the effects like long underwear and lots of hot baths.
Avoid stress and emotional upset as much as possible. Learn to control and reduce stress. Learn to relax. Sometimes these can really help set the mode and help you relax at the end of a long day:
- Hot bath (try using bath salts, or a good quality bubble bath or bath gel)
- Scented candles
- Slow relaxing music (try something that has sounds of the forest or the ocean in the background)
- Low lights
Avoid Caffeine as some people with spastic CP have found that for them caffeine increases spasticity. Foods with Caffeine in them include:
- Chocolate
- Most (but not all) soft drinks
- Hi-C juice drink
- Coffee
- Tea and Ice Tea
Keep a low body weight. Less weight puts less stress on joints and makes it easier to move.
Exercise, keep moving and grooving. Exercises for people with CP should be low impact. Here are some good examples of types of exercise that are appropriate.
- Biking (on an exercise bike)
- Horseback riding
- Swimming and water aerobics
- Low impact aerobics
- Seated/wheelchair aerobics
- Stretching
- Thera-Band work
- Weight training
- Walking/treadmill
Explore alternative therapies for helping to manage pain, spasticity, arthritis, and other symptoms of CP and aging.

This page was last updated 06/18/00