Weeks 1–2
Pain
Ease the rigidity.
Hands-on techniques and guided movement loosen the muscle stiffness and aching that come with Parkinson’s, starting your very first visit.
What We Treat
Parkinson’s treatment in Cherry Hill & Burlington.
The steps that have gotten smaller. The freezing at doorways. Movement itself is one of the most powerful tools you have, and it starts with a cause-first evaluation, not a guess.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like you?
- Steps that have quietly gotten shorter and shuffle-ier over the past year
- Freezing in a doorway or a tight turn, like your feet forgot the plan
- Handwriting that’s gotten smaller without you deciding it should
- A voice that people keep asking you to repeat yourself for
- Feeling unsteady turning around, or catching yourself more than you used to
- Family noticing changes in how you move before you’re ready to talk about it
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
Parkinson’s changes movement. It doesn’t have to define it.
Parkinson’s affects the brain’s ability to plan and scale movement, which is why steps shrink, voices soften, and turning gets harder, even though the muscles themselves are still capable. Left alone, the body adapts by moving less, and moving less makes the underlying rigidity and slowness worse over time.
That’s why we start with a cause-first evaluation of exactly how your walking, balance, and coordination are affected today, not a generic program. Members of our therapy team are certified in LSVT BIG, a program built specifically to retrain big, deliberate movement for people with Parkinson’s. Research shows consistent, high-effort movement training is one of the few things that can meaningfully slow the loss of function, not just manage symptoms after the fact.
The Honest Truth
Waiting on Parkinson’s doesn’t make it wait on you.
If you keep waiting
- Steps keep shrinking, and shrinking steps make falls more likely
- Muscles and balance reactions weaken further from moving less, not from the disease alone
- The confidence to get up and go somewhere quietly shrinks along with the steps
If you start this week
- You get a real baseline: how your gait, balance, and movement measure up today
- You start training big, deliberate movement patterns from visit one
- You get a plan with an endpoint for this phase: a way to measure real progress, not just guesswork
Nobody regrets starting too early. Every week, someone in our clinic says they regret waiting.
How We Fix It
The same four phases. Built around LSVT BIG.
Every plan has an endpoint for its phase. Here’s what the four phases look like for Parkinson’s.
Weeks 2–6
Prime
Retrain big movement.
LSVT BIG-based training retrains your brain to produce bigger, more deliberate steps, reaches, and turns.
Weeks 6–10
Perform
Build the strength and balance to trust it.
Progressive strength and balance work make those bigger movements automatic, so you don’t have to think your way through every step.
Weeks 10+
Prevent
Stay ahead of it, not behind it.
Ongoing check-ins track your gait and balance against your baseline, so changes get caught and addressed early, not months later: that’s the endpoint for this phase, not just another appointment.
My elderly sister regained her balance thanks to her physical therapist at Specialized Physical Therapy. I highly recommend them.
Shared by Paula L. · Parkinson’s
Before: steps had shrunk to a shuffle, and turning around took several small steps just to face the other way
After eight weeks of BIG-based training: full, confident strides, and turning in one motion
Parkinson’s
8 weeks
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking for Parkinson’s.
It can help, and starting early matters. Parkinson’s does progress, but research on programs like LSVT BIG shows that consistent, high-effort movement training can meaningfully slow the loss of step size, balance, and coordination, not just manage symptoms after the fact. Three of our therapists are certified in LSVT BIG specifically for this reason. The sooner you start, the more function there is to protect.
Yes, in almost all cases, the bigger, more deliberate movements this training uses are safe, and they’re exactly what the research supports. A Doctor of PT evaluates your specific balance, strength, and fall risk first, then builds the intensity around what your body can handle, and progresses it as you improve. You’re never handed a generic program.
LSVT BIG, the certified program our therapists use, follows a set structure: four sessions a week for four weeks, built to retrain bigger movement patterns before they fade. After that, most people shift into periodic check-ins to maintain those gains and catch any changes early. Either way, you’ll always know which phase you’re in and what it’s working toward, not an open-ended string of appointments.
Book Your Visit
Ready when you are.
Request a time and a real person calls you back, usually within two business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.
- Hours Mon–Thu 8am–7pm, Fri 8am–2pm
- Prefer to talk now? Call either office. Cherry Hill 856-424-0993 Burlington 609-880-0880
- Same-week appointments available
5.0 · 607 Google reviews
Typical response: under 2 business hours
Step 1 of 6
Request sent.
That’s the hard part done. We’ll call during business hours to lock in your time. Most people are on the schedule same week.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Specialized Physical Therapy – Cherry Hill
Specialized Physical Therapy – Burlington
- 11 Cadillac Road, Burlington, NJ 08016 (opens in a new tab)
- 609-880-0880
- Fax: 609-227-4423
- frontdesk@specializedphysicaltherapy.com
- Mon–Thu 8am–7pm, Fri 8am–2pm