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Guide To Recovering Hand Function After A Stroke

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Patients who have had a stroke often experience reduced arm and hand function. Occupational Therapists use a range of hands-on therapeutic techniques to restore these vital functional abilities. When a stroke occurs, the hands may experience increased tone or stiffness due to disrupted connections between the brain and the hand muscles, this is called  spasticity . Without this strong neural connection, it may become more difficult to fully straighten the fingers or grasp an item. As hands recover, strong signs of improvement include a complete extension of the fingers without assistance. Simple, repetitive rehabilitation exercises strengthen the missed connections between the mind and muscles, adjusting the pathways and preventing the spasms. A series of treatments are often prescribed to relax, stretch, and strengthen the hand muscles. The  grip, strength, and overall function  of the hands is often additionally impaired, making it difficult to completely lift, grasp,...

Reclaim Your Stability

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A stroke can affect your balance in many different ways. You might have muscle weakness, dizziness, visual field loss, and coordination difficulties, and other issues causing balance problems. It is often possible to get treatment for these effects of stroke, including physiotherapy and balance retraining exercises. You may be able to use equipment to improve your stability such as a stick or ankle-foot orthosis. For patients that are not seeing progress in equilibrium in the first several months of recovery, physical and occupational therapy can help restore that balance.  Equilibrium is a skill that has to be relearned after a stroke, and that requires more care than physical therapy may supply. In addition to physical therapy in a clinic, at-home equilibrium exercises for stroke healing can help restore equilibrium.  People that have experienced a stroke need to learn to perform many daily activities all over again. Hand-eye coordination, balance the ab...

Core Exercises for Stroke Patients to Improve Balance and Walking

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Core exercises for stroke patients are essential for improving balance, reducing your risk of falling, and improving your gait (manner of walking).In the treatment of balance and gait dysfunction, exercise therapy is regarded as one of the commonly used methods that bring greater benefits in physical function for stroke patients. The effect of exercises on balance and gait dysfunction in stroke patients has been confirmed by many clinical studies. In addition, core stability exercises have been widely carried out in many fields, including medical rehabilitation, sports training, and medical care. Core stability exercises were shown to improve dynamic standing balance, functional autonomy, static balance, flexibility, and stability. The confidence to walk can be greatly improved with these exercises. It ensures the strength and balance are improved in the essential body muscles that should function for a patient to be able to walk and greatly reduce the danger of falling....

Exercises for Hand Recovery

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Strokes can completely change a man's life by taking away his/her ability to conduct daily activities. The recommendation is to start physiotherapy exercises as soon as possible. The patient will have some weakness in the limbs including hands. In most cases, the total movement will not be gone.  But weakness in strength and coordination will be reduced. They may have decreased strength and dexterity in hand.  Below Video from Flint Rehab has very valuable exercises for stroke patients and it's done very professionally conducted it makes the patient have a  soothing experience while engaged in the exercises. They also provide positive vibes where they complement the patients who have finished the exercises till the end giving a certain feeling of achievement. Note that one exercise should be done with a high number of repetitions and should be conducted at least 2-3 times a day to get fast recovery. When the same movement is repeated multiple times br...

First 3 Hours – After a Stroke

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First 3 Hours – After a Stroke ---Survival Guide------------ It’s a very scary experience to witness one of your family members getting a stroke. It's extra tough if the victim is either your Mom or Dad. Things will happen so fat and unless you know what to do you may waste time which is very critical for a patient’s recovery. Hence this is not a time to get panic or emotional. Call an Ambulance or Emergency Service Chances of recovering are high if you reach a hospital with the patient as soon as possible. A stroke patient should be taken to the hospital within the first two hours so that it leaves doctors with enough time to decide if the patient has an ischemic stroke or a  hemorrhagic stroke. CT scan Usually, a CT scan is enough to decide between an ischemic stroke or a hemorrhagic stroke but if an MRI is possible that’s a better option. In most cases if you have an ischemic stroke you are lucky compared to a patient with hemorrhagic stroke. If a ...

ischemic stroke vs transient ischemic attack (TIA)

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ischemic stroke vs transient ischemic attack (TIA) All depends on the Clot Both of these ischemic strokes and transient ischemic attacks happen due to a clot formed in your brain or a clot that has traveled via the arteries to the brain. Once the clot reaches a narrow passage it will get stuck and this will stop the blood flow to a certain area of the brain. At this stage, the patient will have dizziness and will have certain weaknesses in the body. A TIA will clear the blood passage shortly after a stroke which is why it’s called a mini-stroke. The patient will recover and will be back to normal within the first 24 hours. Yet a person with TIA has a higher risk of having another stroke which could be a major ischemic stroke. A TIA is a major warning where you will have to control a number of things in your life if you need to avert the risk of another stroke. An ischemic stroke will not disappear with time and if blood thinners are not given within 3 hours (3...

There are enough Neurons left: don't worry about infarction

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There are enough Neurons left: don't worry about infarction Infarction  or Ischaemic  stroke  refers to the same illness which is the result of a blood vessel getting completely covered by a blood clot making the brain suffer from no oxygen. When there is no blood supply to a certain area of the brain that area will be deprived of oxygen and will eventually be permanently be damaged. Based on the place that’s been damaged certain disabilities will occur in the patient which will shock the patient and the family. It will please you to know that within the first week there will be a major recovery from what you see on the first day due to a few reasons.   Not only the actually damaged area but the areas around that damaged area of the brain also will stop functioning for a short while due to inflammatory reactions of the brain. This will fade away and in a couple of days, you will start seeing the lots of functions return back. The brain  goes to a ...