Stroke Rehabilitation & Recovery
FisioMed‘s in-home stroke rehabilitation assists a patient’s recovery following a stroke by restoring their abilities through therapy. With the appropriate rehabilitation, the brain has the ability to reorganize itself, creating new pathways. This ability of the brain helps to regain independence, mobility and skills.
Pursue Your Independence Through Stroke Rehabilitation
Stroke rehabilitation is a program consisting of various therapies designed to help you relearn skills lost after a stroke. Depending on the parts of your brain affected by the stroke, rehabilitation can help tremendously with regaining movement and strength. Exercise will not always be easy following a stroke but it is essential to slowly introduce it for optimizing recovery. Without the right type of rehabilitation therapy, the brain may not repair effectively.
What Is Stroke Rehabilitation?
Stoke rehabilitation is centered around specifically focused and repetitive movements practicing the same thing over and over again. Your rehabilitation plan will depend on the part of the body or type of ability affected by your stroke.
Your Therapist may use the following therapies:
- Motor-skill exercises. Exercises can help improve muscle strength and coordination throughout the body. These can include muscles used for balance, walking and even swallowing.
- Mobility training. You might learn to use mobility aids, such as a walker, canes, wheelchair or ankle brace. The ankle brace can stabilize and strengthen your ankle to help support your body’s weight while you relearn to walk.
- Constraint-induced therapy. An unaffected limb is restrained while you practice moving the affected limb to help improve its function. This therapy is sometimes called forced-use therapy.
- Range-of-motion therapy. Certain exercises and treatments can ease muscle tension (spasticity) and help you regain range of motion.
The sooner you begin stroke rehabilitation, the more likely you are to regain lost abilities and skills. It’s common for stroke rehabilitation to start as soon as 24 to 48 hours after your stroke, while you’re in the hospital.
- Physical therapists help you relearn tasks such as transfers, sitting walking and other activities that will help you get back to your functional baseline
- Kinesiologists provide one on one sessions designed to strengthen areas affected by stroke and help solidify tasks such as transfers, sitting, walking and fine motor movements
- Occupational therapists help you lead more independent and active lives. They can help you relearn skills for dressing, bathing and household chores and return to driving. Occupational therapists can also help improve your ability to swallow and your cognitive ability with home and workplace tasks and overall safety.
Stroke recovery varies depending on the area of the brain that is injured. It’s hard to predict how many abilities you might recover and how soon. In general, successful stroke rehabilitation depends on:
- Physical factors, severity of your stroke in terms of both cognitive and physical effects.
- Emotional factors, motivation and mood, and your ability to stick with rehabilitation activities outside of therapy sessions.
- Social factors, support of friends and family.
- Therapeutic factors, including an early start to your rehabilitation and the skill of your stroke rehabilitation team.
The rate of recovery is generally greatest in the weeks and months after a stroke. There is evidence that performance can improve even 12 to 18 months after a stroke.
How Long Does Stroke Rehabilitation Last?
Need for stroke rehabilitation depends on the severity of your stroke and related complications. Some stroke survivors recover quickly. But most need some form of long-term stroke rehabilitation. This could last for possibly months or years after their stroke. Your stroke rehabilitation intensity may change during your recovery as you relearn skills and your needs change.
With ongoing practice, you can continue to make gains over time. Recovering from a stroke can be a long and frustrating experience. It’s normal to face difficulties along the way. Dedication and willingness to work toward improvement will help you gain the most benefit.
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