Stroke Rehabilitation
Around 66% of people who have a stroke survive it and most of them will need rehabilitation. The length of time needed will vary from person to person depending on the size and position of the brain damage. For some fortunate individuals stroke rehabilitation will only need a few weeks, for others it may stretch into years.
The 2 main goals of stroke rehabilitation are
- To help stroke patients become as independent as possible and
- To achieve the best possible quality of life.
The brain damage you have suffered cannot be ‘cured’ or reversed by rehabilitation but it aims to help you achieve the best possible long-term outcome in your stroke recovery.
What is Post Stroke Rehabilitation?
Post stroke rehabilitation helps you relearn the skills you lost when part of your brain was damaged by your stroke. An example of this is learning to walk again or using your hand to fasten buttons. You may also need to learn new skills to compensate for any disabilities you are left with such as washing and dressing one handed.
All the experts agree the most important part of your rehabilitation is focused repetitive practice! You are learning or re-learning skills and need to practice the same as someone learning a musical instrument or kicking a football. Your mantra is PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
You begin your stroke rehabilitation in hospital with the aim of starting your stroke recovery and setting you on the path to functional independence, or to put it plainly the path to being able to look after yourself without help.
What type of rehabilitation will I have?
How much and what type of stroke rehabilitation you receive depends on your disabilities. There are 5 types of disabilities after a stroke and they are
- Paralysis or difficulty with movements
- Sensory problems such as numbness or pain
- Difficulty using or understanding language (the medical term is aphasia)
- Difficulties with thinking and memory
- Emotional problems
There are a variety of medical staff involved in stroke rehabilitation. They include specialist stroke doctors who are in overall charge, stroke nurses who care for you day to day on the ward, physiotherapists or physical therapists who work on your muscle movement and pains, occupational therapists who help you relearn daily activities such as washing and dressing and speech therapists (or speech-language pathologists) as they are known in the USA who work with you on your speech, understanding, memory and improving your swallowing if that is a problem.
So your recovery after a stroke will involve potentially many months of work by both yourself and many trained health professionals. The old saying ‘practice makes perfect’ is true and most definitely applies to stroke rehabilitation.
Go to the home page - Return to the Strokes page
Read Our Privacy Policy
Read Our Conditions of SaleBack to Top