12 Tips for Parkinson’s Disease Self-Care

Practical ideas for physical, mental and emotional well-being

Beth Howard,

AARP

Reviewed by

Orly Avitzur, M.D.

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En español

Published June 26, 2025

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The man was an attorney and a former marine. He had never danced before. When he first walked into Dance for PD, a New York City–based group that provides dance instruction to people with Parkinson’s disease, it was all new to him. Despite his stiffness and gait problems, he took well to the classes, particularly tap dancing.

“One day, he came to class and said, ‘I’m ready to show you the routine I’ve been working on,’ ” remembers David Leventhal, the program’s co-founder. The man went on to perform a four-minute tap routine for the whole group. “I could see the transformation … both the physical improvements and his sense of pride and achievement,” Leventhal says.

Such transformations are common when people with Parkinson’s disease take action to preserve or improve their health and well-being. “If there’s anything that has the potential to reduce the burden of disability and even possibly slow the disease, it’s a high level of self-care,” says neurologist Ritesh Ramdhani, M.D., associate director of the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Division at Northwell Health in Great Neck, New York.

Dancing is just one of a dozen forms of self-care, listed below, that help people with Parkinson’s disease boost their quality of life and thrive.

1. Get moving!

Exercise is hands down the best thing you can do to enhance your well-being. Not only does regular activity improve Parkinson’s symptoms like slowness, stiffness and balance problems; it also improves mood, fatigue and sleep, says Sule Tinaz, M.D., an associate professor of neurology at the Yale School of Medicine who specializes in movement disorders. “Pretty much any type of exercise has been shown to considerably alleviate these symptoms,” she says.

2. Vary your workout

Ideally, you should try to mix up your routine, according to the American Physical Therapy Association and the American College of Sports Medicine. Some days should be focused on aerobic activities (walking, swimming, biking), while others should emphasize strength training, like lifting weights or intense gardening, flexibility (yoga, stretching, Pilates) and balance (dance, tai chi, kayaking).

3. Rev up the intensity

If you’re already working out, take it to the next level. Research suggests that high-intensity forms of exercise may have the potential to halt the progression of Parkinson’s. A pilot study at Yale showed that the disease did not worsen in a small group of people who engaged in a high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, regimen three times a week over six months.

And when the researchers, including Tinaz, looked at participants’ brain scans, “we found increased dopamine signaling in specific parts of the brain where dopamine-producing neurons are located,” she says. These are the cells that die off in the brains of people with Parkinson’s.

4. Eat a plant-based diet

Emerging research suggests that the best Parkinson’s diet is a whole foods, Mediterranean-style eating pattern, which may even slow the progression of the disease, says Rachel Dolhun, M.D., medical adviser at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Such diets feature lean protein foods like chicken and fish, lots of fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and limited quantities of saturated fat and sugar. “Nothing’s completely off-limits,” says Dolhun. “But we want to focus more on the things that are good for us.”

The MIND diet takes a similar approach but includes specific amounts of foods, such as antioxidant-rich berries and green leafy vegetables, to optimize nutrition for people with Parkinson’s. Both the MIND and the Mediterranean diets are rich in fiber, which can aid with constipation, a common Parkinson’s symptom.

5. Boost flavors and textures of your meals

Some people with Parkinson’s experience a loss of smell. That can translate to loss of taste and loss of appetite, Dolhun says. Solution: “Bring in aspects of food that can make it more palatable — different textures, color and more spices or hot sauce,” she says. It can also help to include foods that are more intrinsically flavorful, like garlic and onions.

6. Prioritize sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep can help you live better with the disease. Yet “oftentimes Parkinson’s patients can have very fragmented sleep, where they wake up throughout the night and have difficulty falling back to sleep,” Ramdhani says. Measures like making your bedroom cool and dark and putting away digital devices an hour before bedtime can help, as can cognitive behavioral therapy. “There’s a whole spectrum of sleep medications that can be utilized to try to improve the quality of sleep,” he says. But some come with risks. Talk to your doctor about whether a sleeping agent is right for you.

A sleep specialist can help evaluate more serious concerns, which might involve a night in the sleep lab to determine if you have a disorder, such as sleep apnea, says Ramdhani. Common among people with Parkinson’s disease, sleep apnea can be treated by using a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP machine at night, he adds.

7. Take medication on time

People with Parkinson’s disease produce too little dopamine in their brains, triggering symptoms like stiffness and tremor. The gold standard treatment is a drug called levodopa, which restores the brain’s missing dopamine but must be taken frequently during the day.

Ramdhani advises setting medication reminders on your smartphone or using Alexa, Siri or a similar virtual assistant to prompt you. “It’s really important to stick to the schedule that has been created with your physician in order to maintain a consistent level of dopamine stimulation,” he says.

8. See a movement disorder specialist

Finding a doctor who is up to date on the latest treatment advances for Parkinson’s is important. Your general practitioner may not be aware of longer-lasting and extended-release forms of levodopa and other Parkinson’s drugs, for example. Some need to be taken less frequently, making it easier to adhere to your medication regimen. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved levodopa pumps, which work like insulin pumps to provide continuous infusions of medicine — no reminders necessary.

“We have wonderful treatments, but … I’ve seen patients who have gone years being underdosed or undiagnosed and have developed a lot of symptoms over those years that really affected their quality of life,” Ramdhani says. “It could have been different had they been on the appropriate treatment early on.”

9. Tame stress

Research shows that people with Parkinson’s disease report a higher level of stress than those without the disease, says Dolhun. And stress can worsen motor and non-motor symptoms, particularly tremors, gait problems, sleep difficulties and depression. But you can reduce your stress through practices like meditation and mindfulness, she says. In a survey of 5,000 people with Parkinson’s, more than 38 percent reported using mindfulness to de-stress and experiencing an improvement in symptoms as a result.

“Mindfulness is making sure that you are present in the moment and that you’re paying attention,” Dolhun says. “Sometimes it’s just taking a deep breath and resetting the nervous system. It can be taking a bath, journaling your thoughts, doing a paint-by-number painting, taking a walk in nature or petting your cat or dog.” She suggests building a tool kit of options that work for you.

10. Address the social effects of Parkinson’s

Social withdrawal and isolation are common with the disease, says Dolhun, because “a lot of the symptoms of Parkinson’s can impact” our relationships. “If we have trouble with mobility or projecting our voice, it can affect how or whether we socialize with other people.”

More than 64 percent of people with Parkinson’s experience loneliness, according to a new study of 178 people with the disease, published in the journal Parkinsonism and Related Disorders.

But connections can help you weather the storm, Dolhun says. Aside from the ordinary channels for interaction, like book clubs, exercise classes and faith groups, look for opportunities to join with others who are facing the disease through in-person and online support groups.

11. Tend to your emotional well-being

Managing any chronic disease brings emotional stress. But it can be more profound among people with Parkinson’s.

“Anxiety and depression coexist with Parkinson’s disease — they’re probably part of the disease spectrum itself,” Ramdhani says. “And these mental health conditions can really take a toll on [a patient’s] physical well-being and make symptoms worse.” That’s why he recommends psychotherapy, lifestyle or mind-body therapies and, if needed, medication.

12. Adapt with Parkinson’s tech and tools

As the symptoms of Parkinson’s progress, you may find the need for adaptive devices to help you carry out ordinary tasks. If you’re not sure what you need to handle the challenges, Dolhun advises talking to an expert.

“An occupational therapist is focused on how you can do the things in daily life that you’re used to doing but more easily and safely as Parkinson’s changes,” she says. “There’s a whole host of equipment that can help with all of these daily activities.”

You can also turn to others in the Parkinson’s community. “People who are living with this, who’ve gone through the same things as you, have a wealth of information and advice,” Dolhun says. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

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Beth Howard is a North Carolina–based health and lifestyle writer. She has written for dozens of publications, including U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Prevention, Better Homes & Gardens and Reader’s Digest.

Orly Avitzur, M.D., the former president of the American Academy of Neurology, is a practicing neurologist in Tarrytown, New York, and is working on a medical memoir, A Very Good Brain. She is the former medical director at Consumer Reports and a past editor in chief of Brain & Life magazine.