Post Stroke Exercises

According to the National Stroke Association, stroke is the third most prominent cause of death among Americans. It is also the leading cause of disability in adults. A stroke happens when blood clots prevent blood flow to the brain. The exact area of the brain that stops receiving blood will determine the type of damage that is done and the ultimate effect on the rest of the body. You may need therapy and exercises to help regain motor control, memory, speech and pain issues after a stroke.

Physical Motor Control

• According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, paralysis is one of the most common disabilities affecting stroke survivors. You may have parts of your face or an arm be immobile or an entire half of your body.

  If you experience motor loss from a stroke, you must go through physical therapy and rehabilitation in an attempt to regain as much motor control as possible. This may include walking, stationary cycling or a seated stepper. If you have developed serious paralysis, the main goal is to improve your independence and perform activities of daily living. If your paralysis is minor or confined to an arm, you will work to improve strength and coordination with painting, drawing, ball squeezing and tossing exercises.

Speech and Language

• Approximately 25 percent of stroke survivors will have some level of language impairment. This may be trouble forming words, understanding sentences or writing and reading information. A person may develop expressive aphasia and have trouble conveying ideas to others.

  Speech therapy will be employed with exercises that help to rebuild the language center in the same way a child would learn to speak and read. Pictures are used to show words as exercises help you to formulate the words. There may be lip and tongue exercises to help improve the fine motor skills involved in speaking. For those with expressive aphasia or other cognitive impairments, diligent exercises that redevelop the missing link--whether it be pronouns, adjectives or verbs--are conducted.

Cognitive

• Cognitive exercises are imperative in helping the brain recovery. Just as the body uses physical therapy, the brain needs to be exercised especially if there has been damage to memory or functional brain regions. You may work on exercises designed to increase your attention span. There are exercises to help redevelop visual-spatial relationships and the orientation of objects. Once again, toddler toys and games are utilized where you may need to place a cube in the correct slot compared to a pyramid or ball.

  The key with cognitive therapy is to begin shortly after a stroke with best results happening if exercises are started within a year of the stroke. While all function may not be regained, you may be able to regain much of what you lost or at least regain your independence.