Has Multiple Sclerosis Made You Dependent On a Cane To Keep Your Balance While Walking?

Now there’s a non-invasive high-tech solution that helps Multiple Sclerosis patients walk normally again.

And it’s available without a prescription.

If you are one of the 2.5 million people worldwide suffering from MS you may already be struggling with gait impairment. In plain English, gait impairment means you don’t walk normally anymore.

Because of the type of damage MS causes to the brain, one of the first things to go can be your balance. Unfortunately, approximately 85% of MS patients develop some form of moderate to severe gait impairment.

Whether your ability to walk normally is severely impacted or only slightly affected, the loss of mobility caused by MS can certainly restrict your lifestyle. The harder it is for you to walk, the more your life becomes restricted. Your social life suffers, it’s harder to do simple things like going to the grocery store, and sometimes even getting around the house becomes an ordeal.

One of the ways Multiple Sclerosis creates problems is by causing nerve damage and scarring in the brain. At one time, we used to think that once damage occurred, the human brain couldn’t regenerate or repair itself.

Thankfully, we now know the brain can repair itself.

As little as 20 minutes a day rewires the walking circuits in your brain

In the last 30 years, great strides have been made in our ability to understand how the human brain works and its ability to repair itself. It’s now proven that your brain can and does repair itself if given the right type of input.

Scientists know this natural healing process called neuroplasticity, can actually rewire your brain by creating new healthy circuits. In simple terms, these new circuits bypass disease-damaged areas of your brain restoring healthy function. So although your brain can’t get rid of the scarring and damage that’s already occurred, it can bypass those areas effectively restoring healthy brain function.

However, this can only occur if you take action. If you don’t do anything but sit on the couch, you can’t fix this problem. Fortunately, you’re about to find out how you can start helping yourself get moving normally again.

Is it neuroplasticity or just muscle memory?

If you’ve raised kids, you observed a process similar to neuroplasticity take place while they were learning to walk. We usually call it muscle memory. But really it’s a combination of muscle, nerve, and brain function all mixed together. In order to walk normally, we all need it.

Toddlers learn to walk by trial and error using exaggerated motions. At first, they lift their legs too high holding their arms over their head for balance. They concentrate really hard trying not to fall.

(Not really all that different than people suffering from movement disorders like MS.)

Toddlers really struggle while learning to walk. Although it’s amusing to watch, at the same time we worry they’ll fall and get hurt.

A friend told me a story of how his daughter fell onto the edge of the coffee table while first learning to walk. She hit the edge of the table with her mouth splitting her upper gums. Although she cried in his arms, a few minutes later she was up again trying to walk.

Amazingly enough, the next day she was toddling all over the room holding her arms over her head for balance. A week later she was trying to run. She had now developed healthy balance and walking circuits inside her brain.

By the way, hitting the table with her gums turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because she was also teething and her top front teeth were about to erupt, they now came in quickly because of the cut on her gums.

This story illustrates…

How you can use neuroplasticity to rewire your own brain

A new device called the GaitAid Virtual Walker helps you literally rewire your own brain naturally without the use of drugs or surgery. Better yet, it’s totally non-invasive and doesn’t require a prescription from your doctor.

Simply wear the device and go for a short walk in a safe area. That simple act begins the process of creating new healthy circuits bypassing the disease-damaged areas. In as little as two weeks, your brain responds beginning the bypass process. In many cases patients begin showing improvement during the first session.

By using your own body’s natural ability to repair itself, you’re sort of slipping through your brain’s back door unnoticed. Unfortunately, there isn’t any known method of getting rid of the scars the MS causes on your brain. But you can bypass those damaged areas, creating new healthy brain circuits helping you to regain your balance and a more normal walking gait.

Just by going for a 20-minute walk once a day while wearing the Virtual Walker starts the process.

That’s right, physical activity jump-starts the rewiring process. That’s why many doctors prescribe physical therapy for their MS patients. In your case though it simply means going for a 20-minute walk.

Introducing the GaitAid Virtual Walker

A new high-tech virtual reality device recently developed by MIT-educated Computer Science Professor Yoram Baram PhD. in Israel has already helped many Parkinson’s disease and MS patients regain better balance and the ability to walk normally again.

It’s easy to use at home, doesn’t require any special training or supervision, and shouldn’t interfere with any other treatments you may already be involved in.

Better yet, you control when, where, and how long you use this device, not your physical therapist or doctor. This gives you much more control over your day enhancing your quality of life at the same time.

And it’s available without a prescription.

The GaitAid Virtual Walker...

Uses the latest virtual reality software programming creating an easy-to-use system helping improve patient’s ability to walk faster and more safely.

Displays virtual black and white tile images based on real-time feedback generated by the user’s own movements...helping patients to reduce or eliminate freezing, shuffling, and staggering.

Senses the motion of the user generating sound tones...stimulating the user to synchronize their body into a natural rhythm.

Is small and lightweight so it fits in your pocket or on a belt clip.

Uses a virtual reality display like a high-tech set of eyeglasses with built-in ear phones...making it simple, easy, and comfortable to wear.

Typical 20-minute practice sessions don’t need to be strenuous...becoming fun for many patients which they look forward to eagerly.

Shows a lasting effect building up over the period of a few weeks helping the patient to walk better between sessions. Some patients find they no longer need the device except for an occasional session to maintain their improved walking ability.

The GaitAid Virtual Walker is a new and exciting step forward in the treatment of gait impairment. Tested concepts like walking on tiles and closed-loop audio feedback have been combined into a small portable high-tech device. It’s easy to use and it works.

Why don’t conventional medical treatments always help as much as we think they should?

Two reasons.

First…when faced with a patient suffering from a chronic incurable medical condition like MS, many doctors consider reaching for the prescription pad first. Unfortunately, prescription drugs don’t offer a cure for MS patients. They can certainly alleviate many of the symptoms caused by MS.

Second…the basic structure of our healthcare system gets in the way. By its very nature, our healthcare system requires you to travel to them. It’s not easy getting to the doctor’s office when you suffer from movement disorders making it difficult to walk without the fear of falling down.

Besides drugs, another type of treatment many doctors prescribe is physical therapy.

If done right, physical therapy can help you make great improvements in your ability to walk safely. It requires a properly trained physical therapist that really understands your underlying disease factors.

Unfortunately, physical therapy has three distinct disadvantages…

It’s expensive…even with insurance it can easily turn into a $200 to $300 a month bill in a hurry.
It can only be done inside the therapist’s office…meaning you need to drive or get a ride to get there, and at a time convenient for them, not you.
And the therapist probably won’t have a tiled floor…which is one of the more effective tools they could use to actually help you with your gait impairment.

Why MS patients lose their balance in the first place

Neurological disorders like MS cause motor and visual impairments. In simple terms, that just means you don’t walk so good anymore.

During our research we’ve found that MS patients often describe themselves as follows…

I thought everyone else couldn’t walk in a straight line and they were bumping into me.
Sometimes I feel like I walk like a drunken duck.
Looking back at my footsteps in the snow, they seem to sway back and forth.
I noticed I “walk like a lobster”…especially when I’m tired.
I use so much energy just trying to compensate, yet I still can’t always walk in a straight line.
I just hated to walk next to people that seem to bump into me…then I found out it was me doing the bumping, not them.
In the back of my mind, I’m asking myself “Am I drunk?”…Of course I hadn’t had a drink in ages.

Maybe you’ve even felt that way yourself at one time.

Without a doubt, gait impairment, or “meandering gait” has become one of the major complaints from MS patients.

A contributing factor that makes meandering gait worse for MS patients is distorted visual feedback. Essentially this means what they see doesn’t get processed properly effecting their ability to walk over and around obstacles. The sad thing is MS and other movement disorder patients are more dependent on good visual feedback than healthy people in order to walk without staggering and stumbling.

The average person uses what they see with their eyes to maintain their balance, step off curbs, step over thresholds, and to avoid all the other obstacles and hazards normally encountered while walking. Because people with movement disorders don’t always transfer and process what they see to their brain properly, they tend to lose their balance, stumble, and even fall down more easily.

Tiles on the floor offer a partial solution

Clinical studies using black and white tiles on the floor have been shown to reduce and even eliminate “freezing” while increasing stability during walking. This freezing condition is prevalent in Parkinson’s patients. Although the helpful tile phenomenon was first discovered in Parkinson’s patients, subsequent studies have shown MS patients and other movement disorders are also helped greatly when walking on tiles.

A doctor named Oliver Sacks discovered the positive effect of walking on tiles in the 1960s while doing research on the drug l-DOPA. Sacks documented this in his book, Awakenings, which became a major feature film staring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.

If you’d like more information on the subject of walking on tiles, you should read some of the clinical studies found at the clinical studies tab on this website.

How does walking on tiles actually help you to walk better?

Clinical studies using real tiles on the floor have been shown to reduce and even eliminate “freezing” during walking. In 1999, Neural Processing Letters published a paper titled “Walking on Tiles” showing the scientific explanation of how the brain responds to the stimuli provided by the tiles. In 2002, they published another paper “Walking on Virtual Tiles” showing how virtual tiles significantly improved the stability and walking speed of Parkinson’s patients.

More recent research with MS patients shows they also improve their balance and ability to walk by walking on virtual tiles, like those generated by the GaitAid Virtual Walker.

How does audio or sound feedback help you to walk better?

Sound or audio feedback, even without visual cues, has significantly improved the ability of MS patients to walk.

A study conducted in Israel in 2006, using just audio feedback, improved the walking speed of MS patients over 18%. And their stride length increased almost 10%.

Most significantly, there were lasting positive effects after the use of the audio device was discontinued.

Bottom line: by combining visual and sound cues in one device the GaitAid Virtual Walker offers the best of both worlds to help you improve your ability to walk normally again.

Here’s how…

The Virtual Walker helps people walk better

The Virtual Walker helps in two ways.

One, it displays virtual black and white tiles visible in front of you.

The device does this by displaying them on a set of display glasses you wear on your head just like regular eyeglasses. Not only can you see the tiles on the display, but you can see through the glasses too. This allows the images to float in front of you and you can still see where you are going at the same time. Using motion deterctors and a miniature computer, the virtual tiles respond to your own motion, just as the image of real tiles would, if you walked over a tiled floor.

Two, it generates audio feedback based on your steps and other motions as you walk.

The Virtual Walker does this in a way not done in the past. By combining motion detector input from inside the device and sophisticated software programming, your own walking motion generates audio tones that you hear on the built-in headphones.

These tones stimulate you to alter your walking motion in a subtle way. As you get used to the device, you naturally want to make the audio cues more rhythmic. This is a natural response to the device. In turn, you teach yourself how to walk with a more normal rhythm again.

Scientists call this type of biofeedback “closed loop” feedback. It’s called “closed loop” because your own motions generate it. By combining visual and audio cues with closed loop feedback, you train your own brain to help you walk better.

MS patients show significant improvement

While not all patients show the same percentage improvement, the patients with the most impairment also showed the most improvement. On average, for patients below the median baseline walking speed (BWS) their speed improved by 24%. Similar results were obtained for improvement of stride length.

The new closed-loop system inside the GaitAid Virtual Walker works significantly better than the older systems and doesn’t have any known side effects.

Everything you’ve just read about the GaitAid Virtual Walker is real and tested in clinical studies. Tested concepts of walking on tiles and closed-loop audio feedback have been combined into a small portable high-tech device. It’s easy to use and it works.

Something the Virtual Walker can’t do

The Virtual Walker does not fix or have any effect on foot drop. Foot drop is caused by a nerve condition in the leg. There are devices on the market that help that condition. Unfortunately, the Virtual Walker can’t help foot drop.

However, even if you suffer from foot drop you may still benefit from the Virtual Walker. That is something you would probably want to discuss with your doctor or physical therapist. We would be glad to provide information to help you with those discussions.

Ultimately though, it’s not about technology. It’s about improving your quality of life.

Your mobility affects your life in so many ways. The average person takes their ability to walk normally for granted. Not so for people living with gait impairment problems.

As your ability to walk improves it makes your life so much more enjoyable. Instead of struggling to do simple tasks like buying groceries or picking up the newspaper in the driveway, you’ll gain more time in your day to do the things that really matter.

Imagine for a moment how much happier your kids or grandkids will be if you can go to watch their little league games or swim meets. Instead of struggling to make it to the next social event you’re invited to, wouldn’t it be great if you don’t have to sit in the car until someone can come out to help you up the front walk.

By leaving this kind of stress behind you’ll be able to focus on what’s important to you and your family rather than what a struggle it is to just to get there in the first place.

The bottom line

Why would you invest in the GaitAid Virtual Walker? Only two reasons.

1. Because you want to walk faster with better balance making your day-to-day life safer and more enjoyable.

2. Because you want to feel better about yourself and your ability to live a more full and independent life.

You can try the GaitAid Virtual Walker for 30 days. If you decide to return the device for any reason within the first 30 day after you receive it, we will refund your complete payment excluding shipping and handling.

Regular Option

Yes. Send me a GaitAid Virtual Walker Now

$1200

Lease Option
$500 1st Installment
$100 a month for 10 months
For a total of $1500
Return in first 30 days for a full refund (excluding shipping charges)
Return anytime after 30 days and no more charges will apply

GaitAid Virtual Walker Warranty

The GaitAid Virtual Walker is guaranteed to be free of manufacturing defects for one year. If you have any technical issue we cannot resolve over the phone, we will replace either the entire device or the individual pieces at no charge.