What is a stroke?
Stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA), cerebrovascular insult (CVI), or brain attack, is when poor blood flow to the brain results in cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic due to bleeding. They result in part of the brain not functioning properly. Signs and symptoms of a stroke may include an inability to move or feel on one side of the body, problems understanding or speaking, feeling like the world is spinning, or loss of vision to one side among others. Signs and symptoms often appear soon after the stroke has occurred. If symptoms last less than one or two hours it is known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA). Hemorrhagic strokes may also be associated with a severe headache. The symptoms of a stroke can be permanent. Long term complications may include pneumonia or loss of bladder control.
What’s involved in stroke rehabilitation?
- Strengthening motor skills involves using exercises to help improve your muscle strength and coordination, including therapy to help with swallowing.
- Mobility training may include learning to use walking aids, such as a walker or canes, or a plastic brace (orthosis) to stabilize and assist ankle strength to help support your body’s weight while you relearn how to walk.
- Constraint-induced therapy, also known as forced-use therapy, involves restricting use of an unaffected limb while you practice moving the affected limb to help improve its function.
- Range-of-motion therapy uses exercises and other treatments to help lessen muscle tension (spasticity) and regain range of motion. Sometimes medication can help as well.
Technology-assisted physical activities:
- Functional electrical stimulation involves using electricity to stimulate weakened muscles, causing them to contract. This may help with muscle re-education.
- Robotic technology uses robotic devices to assist impaired limbs with performing repetitive motions, helping them regain strength and function. A recent large study showed no clear advantage to using robotic technology to improve motor recovery after stroke.
- Wireless technology, such as a simple activity monitor, is being evaluated for its benefit in increasing post-stroke activity.
- Virtual reality, such as the use of video games, is an emerging, computer-based therapy that involves interacting with a simulated, real-time environment.
- Noninvasive brain stimulation. Techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have been used with some success to help improve a variety of motor skills.
Cognitive and emotional activities:
- Therapy for communication disorders can help you regain lost abilities in speaking, listening, writing and comprehension.
- Psychological evaluation and treatment may involve testing your cognitive skills and emotional adjustment, counseling with a mental health professional, or participating in support groups.
- Medications are sometimes used to treat depression in people who have had a stroke. Drugs that affect movement are also used.
How can functional rehabilitation help?
A well trained doctor in functional rehabilitation may be able to rehabilitate patient’s function after stroke. While the goal of stroke rehabilitation may be restoring function or assisting patient’s impaired function, it is sometimes difficult to repair injured brain parts. A well trained doctor may be able to use neuroplasticity and clinical neuroscience to re-map certain parts of the brain.