THERAPIES

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Osteopath Clinic
Shiatsu Clinic
Homeopathy Clinic
Alexander Technique
Motomed machine
Advice

 

 

     

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
 The aim of the Centre is to encourage people to help each other through mutual support and to promote a better quality of life to M.S. sufferers and their families. Our Centre opened in 1987 and is one of many centres throughout the U.K., providing a range of therapies and support for people with Multiple Sclerosis. Our Centre has access to Physiotherapist, Aromatherapist and Osteopathist, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and information on diet and all aspects of M.S.  

SERVICES OFFERED

PHYSIOTHERAPY
 The Centre is planning for the future a Physiotherapy Department. Each patient attending will be given a detailed assessment of their condition with exercises and advice tailored to individual needs to promote general health and to maintain / improve control and mobility of limbs. Emphasis will be paced on what people can do on their own, or with assistance, at home. Adjustments are made as required to each individual's personal programme.  

HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment is NOT a cure for Multiple Sclerosis - but it does seem effective in the longer term in helping the condition to stabilise in many people.In addition it often succeeds in obtaining an improvement in bladder control and a reduction in fatigue symptoms. The initial treatment consists of breathing oxygen through a mask for one hour per day over a maximum of 20 days. This takes place in a large pressurised chamber that allows up to eight people to be treated simultaneously. This is followed up by "Top up" sessions which may vary from once a week to once monthly. All sessions are individually monitored. 

NUTRITION AND M.S.
There is a great deal of scientific evidence to suggest that diet has a role in M.S. A healthy diet is of benefit to everyone. In M.S. it can help fight fatigue and infection. Studies at Central Middlesex Hospital showed that a diet rich in essential fatty acids can reduce the frequency and duration of relapses. A booklet "Why a Diet Rich in Essential Fatty Acids?" is available at the Centre along with a special diet cookbook and recipe leaflets

COUNSELLING SERVICE 
 Our Skye and Lochalsh Centre provides an individual, private and confidential counselling service for sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis and their carers, partners, family, friends and children by Telephone counsellors.

COUNSELLING
Initial post diagnosis, coming to terms with, and leading to acceptance of Multiple Sclerosis. Ongoing support for condition management.

SUPPORT GROUPS
Providing mutual support and sharing of experiences for Multiple Sclerosis sufferers, carers and families

HELP US BY DONATING 
We rely entirely on voluntary donations so any amount, large or small, will help the Centre assist people in their fight-back against M.S. PLEASE TELEPHONE  Portree 01478-612984

VISITS TO THE CENTRE 
We always encourage anyone with an interest in M.S. to come and visit our Centre either as an individual or representative of the Caring Services. If you have a group who would like to be shown round, this can be arranged 

OPENING HOURS
Tuesday and Friday 9.00 am - 4.30 pm (24 hour answering service) Hours can be flexible.During these hours, our Centre Administrator is available to discuss any enquiries you may have about the Centre and the treatments available.An information pack is available on request.

The Skye and Lochalsh Therapy Centre

By Frances Pulling
New Pathways January 2001

Above the small harbour town of Portree, capital of the Isle of Skye, there is a modern, state-of-the-art MS Therapy Centre. Serving not only Skye and neighbouring Lochalsh, but also outlying islands which are a boat-ride away, it is an important asset in an area which has a particularly high incidence of MS. The geography of Skye means that transport to the centre can be a real problem - especially for those who live across the sea.

Maggie Hall, 57, an ex-nurse, lives in Uist in the Outer Hebrides. It takes her three hours to get to the Therapy Centre, starting with a ferry journey from Lochmaddy to Uig on Skye. "I start off at 7 in the morning and get to Portree by about 10 o'clock. The present ferry's not too bad for wheelchairs, there's a lift on it. The journey to Skye is fine in the summer. But in winter it's more difficult. The weather can be bad, and sometimes the ferries don't run. I just put my head down and sleep," says Maggie.

While in Skye, people from outlying islands get in as many HBO sessions as they can. "I go for two days and get in four sessions, which lasts me for three weeks to a month," says Maggie. "We usually have a cup of tea and a blether - I can talk the hind leg off a donkey! I think it's worth it.''

With such a distance to travel, people coming for treatment often stay in Skye not just for a day or two, but for the whole of their HBO treatment.

Accommodation is arranged nearby, and being such a close- knit community certainly helps, with members who live locally happy to take in visitors.

The Centre was brought about through fund raising by the local ARMS committee with donations and financial support from a local enterprise company. The chairman Iain Smart joined the local ARMS group in 1986 and his wife Morag, who was diagnosed with MS in 1983, is secretary.

Support and goodwill from the local community has been crucial. The Council (where Iain works) designed the building and supervised its construction free of charge.

The modern Centre is in a timber-frame building which is pleasantly light and airy, with large windows overlooking heathery, windswept hills. There is a large reception and relaxation area with comfortable chairs, and refreshments available.

Skye is lucky to have a team of such dedicated volunteers, who work hard raising funds, and helping with everything from making tea and general administration to operating the HBO chamber.

As Iain says, ''With our team here, everybody knows each other, it's a great relationship, just like coming into another house. They can sit here all day and chat and get coffee and tea or whatever they want. They are a good team of people to work with. We have a lot of good results with our treatments, from eyesight and bladder control, to walking.''

Back home in Somerset with the winter wind blowing outside, I often think about the MS Therapy Centre on Skye, with the endless snaking roads and the choppy seas which some cross to get to it. My impression is of a peaceful haven of friendliness, warmth, reassurance, and support. To mainlanders it would seem remote indeed - but to so many islanders it is a lifeline and beacon of hope.

Further information Skye & Lochalsh MS Therapy Centre Unit 8b Lisgary Place Ind. Est. Dunvegan Road Portree 1V51 9EG Tel/Fax: 01478 612984

New Pathways January 2001

Accessible Places
Over the sea to Skye

You can travel miles before you come into habitation - let alone a toilet!

By Frances Pulling
New Pathways, March/April 2001

In late September, I visited the Isle of Skye for an 'epic' holiday with my husband John. It felt like going abroad. The car journey from Somerset to Skye took three days and was exhausting. However, to rush through such spectacular scenery north of 'the Border' would have been to miss part of the holiday and to severely 'overdo things'.

The landscape on Skye is dramatic and varied, from great mountains shrouded in mist or marching jaggedly across the vast sky, to intimate glens with rushing streams and ancient birch woodland. The colours can be intense and vivid. There are many sheep.

Roads were invariably contorted, but here was a real plus for someone who can't walk far; around every bend was a new richness of scenery, with endless places to stop, breath the air and brew tea or have lunch. Closeness with nature was easy.

The distances and winding roads can be tiring, and having a car was essential. My general impression is that Skye is not a brilliant place to be disabled, but I did not regret leaving my scooter at home - there would have been little use for it and the car fared better without it.

I did encounter a general awareness of disability problems and of the need to improve access. Toilets (or rather the lack of them) were a problem; you can travel miles before you come to habitation, let alone a toilet - a Pipinette or Uribag would have been a good idea!

Staying in a caravan for the first week was cheap, and the compactness meant there was always something to grab hold of! Though it wouldn't have been suitable for a wheelchair.

The Aros Experience Centre, a major attraction on Skye, had a wheelchair for public use, and excellent access. The Arts Centre in Portree had good access for wheelchair users inside and outside - but not, as is often the case, for the 'semiambulant'.

People seem naturally friendly, resourceful and helpful on Skye, and the place feels healthily unbureaucratic. I did not see an eagle or a sea otter on this trip - but I know they are there!

Holidaying on Skye

• Book all accommodation before travelling, and plan plenty of time for the journey.
• Midges can be a problem in Summer, so take lots of insect repellent.
• The Skye Bridge linking Skye to the mainland is free for disabled people (take your orange badge with you) but car ferries run frequently, are hassle free, fun and low cost.
  

Tailor-made four-star self-catering bungalow for people with disabilities including MS. Help with shopping etc. if required. Hazel and Mike Wotton, Greenbank, Halistra, Waternish, Isle of Skye, 1V55 8GL.
Tel/Fax: 01470 592369 Email: Greenbank@freewire.co.uk

List of guest houses, hostels and bed & breakfasts from; Central Information Dept., Scottish Tourist Board, 23 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh EH4 3TP
Tel: 0131 332 2433 Fax 0131 315 4545 www.holiday.scotland.net

Postscript

The long car journey to Skye took its toll and I developed a very dark bruise on the back of my left leg, which spread downwards and culminated in a severely swollen ankle and foot. On visiting Broadford Medical Practice in Skye, I encountered a most enlightened doctor. Dr Humphrey has many MS patients, since there is a high incidence of the disease on the island. Here was a doctor who was investigating Procarin for a patient - and who took my concerns about capillary fragility in relation to MS seriously. The Broadford Medical Practice is the first doctor's surgery in the country to have an oxygen chamber for people with MS and other illnesses. It was donated by a patient, and treatment is funded partly through the NHS and partly by a support group, who also provide volunteer helpers to operate the machine.