Understanding It
What Multiple Sclerosis Is
MS is a condition in which the immune system damages the protective coating around nerves in the brain and spinal cord, disrupting the signals travelling along them. Where that damage occurs determines which symptoms appear, which is why MS looks so different from person to person.
Most people are diagnosed between 20 and 40, and it is more common in women. The most common pattern is relapsing–remitting, where symptoms flare and then partially or fully settle; other patterns are progressive.
Medical management, including disease-modifying therapy, is directed by a neurologist and GP. Allied health works alongside that, focused on daily function.
How does it usually present?
- Fatigue: often the most disabling symptom, and frequently the least understood by others
- Weakness or heaviness in the limbs
- Balance and coordination difficulty
- Numbness, pins and needles or altered sensation
- Vision changes, including blurred or double vision
- Bladder and bowel changes
- Muscle stiffness or spasticity
- Cognitive changes: processing speed, memory and word-finding
- Heat sensitivity, with symptoms worsening when overheated
- Pain
- Mood changes
Symptoms commonly fluctuate day to day and within a single day.
When to Act
When to Seek Help
Contact your GP or MS nurse if fatigue has changed markedly, mood has dropped, or function is declining without an obvious relapse.
Seek urgent medical review if you have:
- New or rapidly worsening symptoms lasting more than 24 hours — this may indicate a relapse and needs prompt neurological review, as early treatment can affect the outcome
- Sudden vision loss or eye pain with movement
- New difficulty swallowing, or coughing and choking when eating and drinking
- Sudden inability to pass urine, or loss of bladder or bowel control
- Fever or infection symptoms — infection can temporarily worsen MS symptoms significantly, and needs treating
How We Help
How Our Team Can Help
Because MS fluctuates, therapy tends to work best as an ongoing relationship with periodic review rather than a single block. What suits during a stable period may not suit during or after a relapse.
Occupational Therapy
Fatigue management and energy conservation — one of the most valuable interventions in MS — strategies for cognitive change, daily task modification, equipment and home modifications, workplace assessment, and functional assessment for NDIS purposes.
Physiotherapy
Strength, balance, walking and transfers; spasticity management; falls prevention; and exercise programs designed around heat sensitivity and fatigue, which need different pacing from standard programs.
Speech Pathology
Where speech clarity or swallowing is affected.
Nursing
Continence support, medication management, and clinical care where needed.
We are careful not to overstate what therapy does. It does not alter disease progression. It can help you manage energy, maintain function, and stay doing what matters to you.
Starting Out
What to Expect at Your First Appointment
Assessment happens at home. Your clinician will ask about your symptom pattern, what a good day and a bad day look like, what you are finding hardest, and what you most want to protect: often work, parenting or a particular activity.
They will assess function relevant to their discipline, look at your home and routine, and build a plan that accounts for fluctuation rather than assuming a steady state. Reports go to your GP, neurologist or MS nurse.
Ready to book?
Ready to get started?
Contact inOne Healthcare on 1300 765 456 or submit a referral online. MS is supported by our Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy and Nursing teams.
info@inonehealthcare.com.au
Flexible Options
Funding we accept.
NDIS
Support at Home
Medicare
Private
Free 20min Consultation
Unsure what support you need, or have funding enquiries? Book a free 20-minute telehealth consultation with our team.