Stroke Rehabilitation

What is Stroke Rehabilitation

After a stroke, patients can be left with paralysis, especially one-sided paralysis. Physiotherapy can be a key element of the treatment plan. Physiotherapy should ideally begin immediately after the stroke. Our physiotherapist will come down to the hospital where the patient is in acute care and first of all evaluate what disabilities need to be dealt with. Some of the problems can be: lack of strength and endurance, limited range of motion, lack of sensation in the limbs and trouble walking.

What are the Therapy benefits?

Patients will learn to use limbs that have temporarily been rendered useless. During stroke rehab, we will determine whether these limbs can be made to reach their previous potential. If not, we will teach the patients the best ways to manage without the full function of their limbs. One of the most common problems at this stage is "learned nonuse". This happens when stroke patients avoid using limbs affected by the stroke thus making things worse and crippling the limb further by letting it atrophy though non-use.

How We Do It

Tapping and stroking the impaired limb works. If the patient cannot or will not participate in active range of motion exercises, passive ones can be used whereby our physiotherapist moves the limb himself. At certain times, the patient may try to use the impaired limb but may fall back naturally on using the functional limb. In this case, stroke rehabilitation involves gently restraining the healthy limb. Practice is important and the more physiotherapy sessions, a patient has at this stage the easier it becomes for the patient to recover.

Post Hospital Care

Stroke Rehabilitation must continue long after the hospital stay is over. Earlier, stroke victims would be given a few sessions of physiotherapy during their hospital stay and for a few weeks after. But new research has proved beyond a doubt that physiotherapy can promote active and more pronounced stroke rehabilitation if it is continued at home. Patients will learn to walk better and gain more strength to move on with their daily chores. They will also be able to achieve better posture and better balance which can help prevent falls.