Post Polio Syndrome

What is post-polio syndrome?

Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that affects polio survivor’s years

after recovery from an initial acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus.

PPS is mainly characterized by new weakening in muscles that were previously

affected by the polio infection and in muscles that seemingly were unaffected.

Symptoms include slowly progressive muscle weakness, unaccustomed fatigue

(both generalized and muscular), and, at times, muscle atrophy.  Pain from joint

degeneration and increasing skeletal deformities such as scoliosis are common.

Some patients experience only minor symptoms. While less common, others

may develop visible muscle atrophy, or wasting.

In the late spring of 2007 I received a call from a lady inquiring about my

willingness to speak to her Post Polio Group.  I explained to her that

though I was a nurse as well as a hypnotherapist, I knew very little about polio

and even less about post polio syndrome. She then explained to me,

“that was the problem, very few health care providers did.”

I told her that I would take to research PPS and would speak to her group.

During my research I found all sorts of ways to deal with the physical

difficulties of PPS but not much further. Research told of mechanical devices:

lifts, braces, wheelchairs and other aids to maneuverability.

There were those who wrote of overcoming occupational difficulties and tools

and methods that might help those still working. There was much

interest in physical therapy and methods to preserve needed energy. However,

the shear absence of other human needs not mentioned, spoke

volumes to this researcher.  It seemed the people that were providing insight

into this illness had totally forgotten that those suffering were more

then their bodies.  

There was no mention of the mental devastation that shattered ones life when

polio reappeared. It appeared that no thought was given to emotions:

depression, guilt, anger, embarrassment, frustration, fear, sexual needs or

spousal/family relationships.

I spoke to the Post Polio Group. I explained that they were more then their

bodies and they were not their disease. That they were far greater than

that, and they could move beyond this if they absolutely refused to let PPS

define who they were. I then offered my assistance.

First and foremost we had to deal with the debilitating pain that came with

post polio syndrome. It was not as if they were a child dealing with polio,

for a child has little more to do but to adjust to their limited abilities and most

do so quite quickly. A surviving adult however, has long forgotten those

difficult days and are now functioning pretty much as everyone else. They have

families, children, careers, social commitments and hobbies.

Then when least expecting, the polio returns.

When PPS begins to show symptoms in the person’s life the first reaction is

denial, “This can’t be happening to me.” Then the long terrible process of

diagnosis begins. Few doctors fully understand what is happening to their

patient. Without a diagnosis, lengthy treatment is focused on symptom solution.

Eventually, the patient is faced with the fact that their polio has returned.

Confused and devastated, their life becomes full of fears. What will happen to

my job, where will the money come from, will my spouse or

children still want me? What about my friends, my hobbies, how will I live and

how will I get around. Then after all of these fears, thoughts and

heart aches have taken affect: where do I find help?  

First it is to remember, we are not medical doctors, physical therapist or

occupational therapist; we deal with those matters of the mind. The trained

Certified Hypnotherapist can be so very beneficial to those suffering from PPS

as our approach should be directed to the whole person: body, mind

and spirit.

First the body:

For the body to function comfortably we must rid the pain. For most chronic

pain cases, I stopped using traditionally taught pain control techniques

quite some time ago. I now work in deeper states of consciousness, negotiating

with the unconscious mind to eliminate pain levels that are no longer

needed as a symptom. With the help of the unconscious mind any discomfort

will only be available as a warning to the client, telling them to take a

break, sit down, and relax, to restore and preserve energy.  

Once the pain is brought under control, we can move on to other issues. It’s

important to understand that just because a client may have PPS; it

does not exclude them from all the other difficulty that everyone else has in life.

The therapy I use from this point forward is Analytical Hypnotherapy

and Regression.

The mind:

It’s through acceptance we find peace. Therefore, our main focus is on the

fear. As most fears are generated from a remembrance in the past, the best

place to look for the cause of present fear is in the past.

As past fears are remembered and/or relived, they can be seen for what they

really are, either real or perceived. As forgiveness, acceptance and

resolution occur also comes a feeling of empowerment.  Each and every past

fear properly resolved will exponentially increase the client’s

empowerment.

With this empowerment we can now approach the client’s new fears

associated with PPS with their success from the past, after all they already

have dealt with previous fears and these new ones may appear to be just

another series of challenges of little or no consequence. This is not to

diminish these current and future difficulties. However, now it may seem as

not so overwhelming, nothing they can’t handle.

The spirit::

Most people have some sort of a concept about life after death. Through the

counseling process the client must come to understand that they are

also, spiritual beings as well. That this life is a temporary experience and

beyond it they live on in a spiritual existence.    

At some point near the end of therapy, where we really want to be with the

client, is to have the client say: “Okay, I have PPS, so what. I had polio

as a kid and I have it now. I dealt with it then and I can deal with it now. As

I look back on my life I can see how everything all came together, how

a power larger then I helped me through it and I don’t need to be afraid

anymore. I can now understand and accept that this is a temporary lesson I

needed to learn for my soul’s edification and I am blessed”.

A client wrote the following article for a PPS journal.

Hypnotherapy - As an Alternative Therapy

By: Barbara Oniszczak

In all my reading about polio and post polio syndrome, I have found and

continue to find articles regarding polio, what polio did to my body, my

physical ability, my physical disabilities, my limited mobility, my inability to find

knowledgeable physicians, and medical professionals, my use of

orthotics, bracing, assistance devices, and the list could go on and on about

physically "fixing" my disabling condition(s).

 There is a body/mind/spirit connection that is primarily omitted in everything

I read on a daily basis. In all the paperwork I have collected over the

years from knowledgeable doctors, nothing in any of them had addressed the

aspect of healing the body with mind and spirit forces that we all

possess from birth. This omission is included in newspapers, magazines,

journals and health articles as well. This body/mind/spirit connection is

convoluted but simple to address. It is an alternative therapy that needs your

attention. I have been fortunate enough to meet a Master Hypnotherapist

who has guided me, and a few other survivors, on a journey that each and

everyone who has a disabling condition must go on.

 My primary purpose for contacting Charles Kinney, Master Hypnotherapist

was as a speaker at my support group meeting. Members had

expressed an interest in having someone come and talk about that

body/mind/ spirit connection which we all have as human beings. I'm not talking

about religion here, but the honest to goodness spirituality and soundness of

mind, of which we are all made.

Mr. Kinney was eager to take on the challenge of learning about post polio

syndrome and would, if

he could, help me and others heal in body/mind/spirit on our PPS journey. I

needed to accept my post polio, and in accepting my inability to

function as I thought I should function as a 59 year old woman, I could relearn

and realign my thinking to be my source of strength, my source of

healing, and my source of energy. To conserve energy, I needed to accept my

body limits, what I can and cannot do; what I should and should

not do. So far, I have been able to work on three main issues of my post polio

journey. First, Mr. Kinney and I addressed my chronic pain. I daily

found myself functioning, or rather trying to function at a level 9 of chronic pain.

After my first session of hypnotherapy, I found that I could reduce

my pain level to a 1. I did not perceive my pain level to be a 1, but it is

genuinely a 1.My pain level has remained at a "one" since my therapy began.

Next we worked on my fears. I feared the uncertainty of my future and what it

will bring. I feared that I cannot be the wife and mother I once was.

 I feared that I cannot be as physically active on some days as others. I feared

what people say, think or do when they learn about me slowly

returning to a disabling condition. After all, I now wear two leg braces I've

never used before.

 I know that I need to address my physical limitations. I truly know what they

are and I know how to control them. "Conserve to preserve" has real

meaning to me now. I feel weakness. I feel the need to sit down when my legs

say so. I am compelled to do what I know I should do and I do so

because I know my energy is needed at another time. I don't feel desperate in

my need to DO things I believe are expected of me. I have a stillness

about me that is more important than what I thought needed to be done now.

Instead of being on a collision course with my PPS, I am now working

body/mind and spirit in living with my PPS. I am not on the downward spiral

that I once was on. I was on that downward spiral a few months ago.

Ask the other members of my support group and they will echo what I have

said: body, mind and spirit are all connected. You are what you think

and you are what you believe. My body knows this, without a doubt.

Barbara Oniszczak,

Facilitator, Northeast MI Support Group

Polio Perspectives Vol 22 No 3 Fall 2007 16