After Stroke Treatments for a Subluxed Shoulder
The consequences of a stroke can be quite severe for the human body. Not only is the potential for brain injury prevalent with stroke but muscle weakness and spasms have been shown to cause a dislocation of the arm from the shoulder joint, also known as a subluxed shoulder. There are many ways that a subluxed shoulder can be treated following a stroke.-
Proper Positioning
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After the shoulder has been dislocated, it's important to keep the joint in proper alignment at all times. This can affect how you lay on the bed, how you put on your clothes and how you carry yourself. Make sure that your posture is as straight as possible so the arm joints sits comfortably in the cup of the shoulder. When lying down, putting something under your arm to keep a straight alignment of the arm ball with the shoulder cup is also important. When getting dressed, always put the affected arm in the sleeve before placing the unaffected arm in the other sleeve. These are small, but important initial steps in keeping the shoulder together.
Physical Therapy
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One of the reasons that the shoulder was subluxed in the first place was because of a lack of muscle. It's important that you start on physical therapy as soon as possible after the stroke. The ideal time is a couple of weeks but it also depends on the severity of the stroke suffered and doctors advice. The physical therapist will work on range of motion initially and then move to strengthening exercises using gentle resistance, isometrics and resistance bands. Eventually, as strength returns to the joint, weights can become part of the therapy. Because stroke victims almost always suffer from pain in the shoulder, whether subluxation occurs or not, physical therapy can often be difficult.
Electric Stimulation Treatment
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Because the muscle loss in stroke victims can be so severe, and shoulder pain causes problems with physical therapy, often times additional treatments are required to build up the muscles in the shoulder. Implantable neuromuscular electronic stimulants are yet another form of treatment that is becoming more common for stroke victims who have suffered shoulder subluxation.
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