Every month, our online masterclasses offer insight to different topics and special areas of interest that have been suggested by participants who attend our exercise classes. The masterclasses complement our weekly online exercise classes which take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 11am. The aim of each masterclass is to focus on a chosen topic area that people have identified as needing to know more about.
The masterclasses are led by Alan Pearson, our level four exercise specialist who has nearly a decade of experience providing exercise prescription as a means of managing the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Alan structures each masterclasses to first provide the understanding behind the theory of a problem such as foot drop and then demonstrates techniques to help manage the issues experienced through the use of exercise. 
Our next masterclass is on Friday 16 April at 11am, which is second in the series of our online masterclasses where we will be focusing on corrective stretching. If you would like to know more about the session or how to register, click here.
See below some of the feedback we have received from our masterclasses that have taken place so far
“I thought the session was nothing less than brilliant. So practical, so reassuring, and so understanding. Alan is amazing.” – Jackie
“Alan's balance masterclass was excellent. I can't tell you how very helpful it is to get these insights into how our brains and bodies work together and the effects that damage can have and how we can work to maintain and improve those links. They are really motivational too.” - Sarah
“It’s so helpful to learn about what’s going on in the brain and body and to understand more about the links between them. It’s obvious that Alan knows his stuff.” - Lisa
Multiple sclerosis (MS) can present an array of symptoms, including muscular and nerve pain, spasticity, and muscle tension. Reflexology is a complementary therapy that many people living with MS have used, and most benefits are often seen after multiple sessions. 
Notable benefits of reflexology include a reduction in tension, improved circulation, along with relaxation, thus a reduction in stress levels. Some MS patients have reported improved bowel function after trying reflexology, and sessions can be tailored to individual’s needs and specific areas of pain.
Nigel tried reflexology with MS-UK and said, ‘I first sampled reflexology when I was offered it as a complementary therapy at the wellness centre. As I had no previous experience I agreed and over a period of nine months I began to get feeling back in my right foot. Combined with the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) for my foot drop, I developed better control in my walking – a point noticed by Andrea Tavner, who has previously hosted hand reflexology sessions for MS-UK Online. It is hoped I can resume reflexology soon.’ You can find a sample set of guidelines for hand reflexology by Andrea here.
Reflexology may seem similar to massage, however there are some key differences. Massage focuses on larger muscle area, with large movements typically with the whole hand to treat a wider area, such as the back, shoulders, or calf muscles for example. Reflexology uses smaller movements with the fingers and thumbs on a specific area, promoting healing in the areas treated.
Considered a complementary therapy, reflexology is non-medicated and requires an accredited practitioner to deliver the treatment. It is worth consulting with a local practitioner and considering the cost of this complementary therapy as multiple sessions may be required.
You can find out more about the different types of complementary therapies available by downloading our Choices booklet here.
This week, it’s Complementary Therapies Week and we’re sharing information and resources on a selection of different types of therapies available to people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). 
If you’ve never heard of it, you might be wondering what APS therapy is and how it’s beneficial to people living with MS. Action Potential Simulation (APS) is a microcurrent sent from a machine into the human body, helping to encourage the body’s own healing mechanisms.
The electrodes are attached to the site where you experience pain, and the treatment is painless and considered safe.
Nigel previously used APS therapy at MS-UK's wellness centre and said, ‘I sampled APS Therapy when it was first offered at Josephs Court and after two sessions on my troubled right leg, the spasms I experienced daily disappeared. I was so impressed with the results that I bought my own machine so that I could use it at home more frequently for free. I did use APS therapy daily for a complete month and followed up with weekly sessions for the following six months. I now need to use it daily for April then drop back to once a week until I feel the need to use it more.’
People who have used this type of complementary therapy have noted that it has helped muscular pain, nerve pain, headaches, restless leg syndrome, chronic fatigue, insomnia and headaches.
You can find out more about how to access APS therapy by visiting Painfree Potential, where you can buy and hire machines to try at home.
To find discover more complementary therapies that may help with your MS, download your free Complementary and Other Therapies Choices booklet here
Dean Jeffreys, Online Programmes and Project Manager, explains MS-UK’s new national service and why you should get involved
Hello! I am the newly appointed online programmes and project manager here at MS-UK. I have the pleasure of launching our new and exciting online service for 2021. I have been working at MS-UK for just over three years now, and I will be using this experience to deliver and offer a wide range of online activities for the multiple sclerosis (MS) community.
This year, we will begin by launching our online exercise classes that are accessible for all abilities, and showing you how to get the most out of exercising from home. In addition, we will be starting other new classes and courses that will be the core offering from MS-UK. This includes mindfulness courses, chair yoga sessions, and our peer support service that will help you connect and stay socially active with others.
As we move forward in the year, we will be adding many more activities that you can get involved in. This includes live information sessions on topic areas such as diet and nutrition, symptom management, and complementary therapies. We will also offer alternative activities to those that get you physically active, including sessions on things such as poetry classes and arts and crafts.
As with everything we do at MS-UK, it is community-led, so if you have suggestions for activities you would like to see us hold online, you can email us register@ms-uk.org and tell us what activities you would like to see in the future.
Online exercise classes
Starting in January 2021, we have our new online exercise classes, with six classes taking place every week on a Tuesday and Thursday from 11am. The classes are structured in a way that will make them accessible for all.
The classes themselves have been specifically designed to help people stay active at home, and will be delivered by our Exercise Specialist, Alan Pearson. These classes will give you the confidence to manage your wellbeing independently by attending the classes and practising the exercises in your own time.
How the classes are structured
Find out more
Please visit our website page www.ms-uk.org/ms-uk-online to see what we have going on and to book a class. If you have any questions and would like to know more about what we are offering, please email register@ms-uk.org or call MS-UK on 01206 226500.
Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in a class with us soon!
Blogger Martin Baum was invited to an event at the House of Commons recently to launch a campaign. Here is his story of his experience...
In an age where blogging is a symbol of 21st century communication, the aim is as much for a blog to be read as it is to be written. As a multiple sclerosis (MS) blogger for various MS-related organisations I am no exception as I continue to try to engage with a loyal and growing readership.
As a writer I enjoy what I do very much but just like having MS it’s a lonely existence. However, sometimes, the unexpected does happen. I recently received an invitation from a charity called Overcoming MS (OMS) to attend a reception they were hosting at the House of Commons.
It was to launch a new campaign video giving everyone living with MS hope of recovery and it was not something I was going to pass up. The reception was sponsored by Stephen Lloyd MP and held in the Strangers Dining Room.
The person behind the promise of living a life free from MS was Professor George Jelinek, an Australian who devised the OMS seven-step recovery program which has enabled him to remain symptom free for 20 years. In truth, however, I was sceptical. Ever since beta interferons failed to sustain the promise of being the cure, I have become naturally wary of anything being promoted as such.
On reading more about Professor Jelinek’s regime prior to my trip to Westminster, it occurred to me my own lifestyle was already accommodating much of what he was advocating. The seven-step program is about following a strict curriculum of diet, sun, vitamin D, exercise, meditation, mindfulness, approved modifying medication, helping to prevent family members from getting MS, and changing a lifestyle for a healthier one.
Whilst I am not vegan I eat very little meat, preferring fish instead. I meditate regularly for ten minutes a day, I exercise as much as I am able to and enjoy the benefits of mindfulness. Most of all, I’ve been changing my lifestyle for a healthier one for several years which means, should I ever want to fully engage with the program, I’m only a couple of steps shy.
That afternoon I met many MSers sharing a happy disposition to be living with the condition because their symptoms were no longer an issue. Many claimed their lesions had been repelled and that they were now leading happier MS-free lives as a result of following OMS.
Throughout the afternoon I mingled with many inspirational people. Just like any of us, neither MPs nor nobility are immune from being touched by MS because they have family and friends affected by it. Stephen Lloyd’s reason for being there was because he had a constituent who had MS who also follows the OMS approach. That was reason enough for him to sponsor the event.
As the afternoon ended and I parted from some truly inspiring people, I was left feeling that the OMS seven-step recovery program had already succeeded in helping many people. But then my thoughts turned to those who weren’t but might have benefited if they had.
Having MS is a game of patience. We bide our time in what often feels like an isolated existence, waiting for a more traditional breakthrough in the quest to find a cure for the condition. I’m left feeling that more MSers should at least try something like the OMS approach that’s as near to organic as it gets.
Every month we share the story of one of our fantastic #TeamPurple fundraisers. This month, Gemma Burke tells us why she decided to take on the Virgin Money London Marathon earlier this year...In 2013 my lovely mother got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). When we got the news of course we were devastated, not knowing much about the condition apart from the fact it was “incurable “ through medication and put her in a lot of pain, we just all did what we could to support her but for years I have felt helpless. She decided not to tell anyone but her close friends and family of the condition she was living with...why you ask?
My mum is one of the most strong, independent, driven and successful women you will ever come across. In 1999 she was awarded the Ernst & Young trophy winning Young Entrepreneur of the Year. From 1992 - 2012 she owned a very successful business expanding world wide in over twenty countries and for years she was on the panel of the DSA and was well respected in the industry she was in. Sadly, I believe because of all of this she put pressure on herself to portray this strong business women, I think she thought people would take pity on her or think she couldn’t get the job done if she came clean that she had MS. So instead she suffered in silence, for a few years she was CEO of a large network marketing business which was an extremely high pressured job and to get her through the pain day to day she would take morphine based pills which again is something none of her colleagues knew about.
In 2017 my mother found herself heading up Europe for one of the largest essential oils company in the world doTERRA, here again she would be working 70 hour weeks, another high pressured role but this time she would be taking over 100 flights a year around Europe. Anyone that has MS will know that one of the biggest struggles is tiredness, so it won’t come as a shock to you when I tell you that she was exhausted. But this time something was different, as she was now part of this essential oil business she discovered natural medicine and in time found the perfect essential oils to support her immune system and pain relief and now to this day is morphine free.
In June 2018, even though my mum was at her healthiest, her strongest, pain free and our “happy mum”, I still felt I needed to do something to help her and others with MS and also families that have lost loved ones through MS. I took the plunge and decided to apply to run the Virgin Money London Marathon 2019 to raise money for MS-UK. They help people and families through some of the darkest times. This journey has been incredible - I have not just been able to raise over £2,000 but I have also learnt so much about myself too, I feel so proud to be a part of it all and to have run for such a good cause with an amazing charity.
Last month my mum told me that I had given her the strength to tell the world what she had been hiding for years, she told her colleagues and thousands of people who work alongside her, friends she had not seen for years that she has had MS for over 6 years. People where stunned, some sad, some happy because her story had also helped them, but most of all no one took pity on her!
So my 'WHY' is my mum, I ran for her, for the strength she has shown, for never giving up, for still pursuing her career even though at times it was nearly impossible to get out of bed let alone run a business, for now helping so many other people with MS find a natural solution that works with them, for having the strength to tell everyone that she will fight and lastly for being the best mum I could wish for!
Visit Gemma's fundraising page
Applications are now open for MS-UK #TeamPurple places in the Virgin Money London Marathon 2020!
I have been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for thirty-five years. In 2014 I noticed that walking was becoming more difficult and my MS nurse recommended that I contacted Josephs Court, MS-UK’s wellness centre in Colchester, Essex. I attended twice a week to exercise and became a founding member of their Steering Group. Before I was diagnosed with MS, I exercised every weekday walking for 10-15 minutes to the office where I worked in London. At lunchtime I would occasionally go for a 30 minute walk if the weather was kind, and this felt like it was a sufficient form of exercise. However I was unfortunately diagnosed with MS, but nevertheless I continued exercising in the same way for another 13 years until I eventually changed jobs in 1996. By then I commuted to Basildon by car – therefore my exercise regime came to an end.
But now, I visit Josephs Court two mornings a week, for 2-3 hours each time, and use most of the equipment available. I’ve also increased my exercise since the arrival of the latest university students, as one of them has given me some rigorous exercises using the parallel bars.
Now I feel that doing gentle exercise gives me a feeling of “getting one over on my MS” – it isn’t going to stop me from doing something that I enjoy, and there is a social aspect too. We are all suffering with the same disease label yet we don’t talk about it, we just enjoy one another’s company. The social aspect means I now have someone else to talk to, and shows that I needed something to relieve the boredom of not working, as I spent three years applying for jobs with no luck.
Finally, I thoroughly enjoying working with the student physiotherapist Becca, as she has brought new ways of exercising to me. I also find volunteering for MS-UK therapeutic – it is another reason for existing and gives me purpose.
Find out more about exercise in our Choices booklet (PDF document)
Issue 114 of New Pathways magazine is out now. In this jam-packed edition, we take a look at the recent changes that could affect those of you who take CBD oil, on page 12. We also ask ourselves “Am I having a relapse?” Whether you’re newly diagnosed or have been living with MS for years, there will come a time when you will ask yourself this question, to find out more turn to page 39.
Page 21 offers some helpful advice to those who have found themselves caring for a friend or loved one and don’t know where to start when it comes to finding support.
Louise Willis MS-UK Counsellor talks about managing fatigue and how spoon theory can help you manage and explain it to others on page 28.
MSer and feature writer Ian Cook investigates if magnets can help multiple sclerosis in Cook’s Report Revisited on page 19.
Mary Wilson, #5 Para-Badminton player in the world, reveals her hopes of representing Team GB in Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on page 24, and discover how music therapy could help your MS on page 23.
In addition, don’t forget to read all the latest news and real life stories from MSers living life to the full and why not give our tasty free recipe a try!
Enjoy reading!
About New Pathways
New Pathways magazine is a truly community led publication written by people with MS for people with MS. Each issue offers a variety of information on drugs, complementary therapies and symptom management, plus all the latest news and research and your amazing real life stories.
To subscribe, visit www.ms-uk.org/NewPathways, or call 0800 783 0518. Audio, plain text and digital versions of the magazine are available on request, simply call 01206 226500 and let us know your requirements.
1. Does the company have publically accessible, easy to understand lab reports?
Companies such as Endoca selling quality products will be proud of their lab reports, and will want their customers and the general public to have easy access to information regarding what is in their products. Do a quick search of the company website, or reach out to their customer services team who should be able to point you in the right direction. You want to see cannabinoids listed, as well as terpenes and evidence of absent chemicals and pesticides.
2. Are the products organic and whole plant?
If the products are certified organic, you will see the logo on the website. Some companies will grow organically but may not have a certification, which isn’t ideal but even without certification, a quick glance over their lab reports should show the testing for, and subsequently negative levels of a variety of chemicals or toxins.
Research and anecdotal reports support the claim that whole plant CBD extracts are more therapeutically potent than isolated CBD extracts alone. Make sure the lab reports of your products show terpene and other trace cannabinoid levels, otherwise you may be buying an isolated CBD product, which means the company is using only the CBD molecule in a carrier oil and no other beneficial plant molecules.
3. Is the CBD amount of the product clearly labelled and verifiable?
As the industry is yet to be standardised, bottle sizes and CBD levels are all dependant on the company, so it’s hard to truly know if the product you’re using is good value for money. Endoca have created this CBD calculator, which helps you work out the monetary amount per milligram of CBD, which is important when trying to decide between products.
4. Are there clear quality standards in place?
Without clear quality standards there is no guarantee of safety in the product you are purchasing so make sure you ask the company for proof of the quality standards they have in place. Ask if the products are Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified (when products are of pharmaceutical quality) and for any other certifications they hold that show their product is safe for consumption.
5. Is their website content clear and informative and do they have many online reviews?
As CBD is a new industry for many people, there is an abundance of misinformation online, including information that you can find on many CBD company websites. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to buy CBD in bulk and rebrand it as your own, so if the company you’re buying from provides limited information, or is not clear in giving you all the tools you need to make an informed decision or purchase, steer clear. Also, finding online sources of product reviews is vital to hearing about the experiences of others using the same products.
You can read more about cannabis in our Cannabis and MS Choices leaflet online.
Everyone experiences stress in one way or another. It can affect you both physically and mentally, making you feel anxious and impatient. But stress doesn't have to dominate your daily routine.
To mark Stress Awareness Day 2018, we are giving you the opportunity to learn how to focus your mind with a series of stress-busting podcasts hosted by mindfulness coach Zoe Flint. Each step-by-step guide is designed to give you the tools you need to de-clutter your thoughts, focus on the present, and ultimately reduce your stress levels.
Want to get involved in the conversation? You can follow all the talk about Stress Awareness Day by searching for and using the hashtag #StressAwarenessDay on Twitter and Facebook.
