Brain Therapy for Stroke Patients

Rehabilitation therapy allows stroke victims to regain their independence. A good program can help stroke survivors restore as much of the brain's damaged areas as possible. Strokes affect various areas of the brain, including those that control motor, fine motor and speech abilities. As a result, physical, occupational and speech therapy are must-haves for patients seeking maximum results.

Physical Therapy

• The cornerstone for any stroke rehabilitation program is physical therapy. A stroke damages areas of the brain responsible for movement, balance and coordination. These activities are at the very heart of regaining independence.

  Physical therapy helps the brain relearn basic motor activities such as walking, sitting, and lying down. You will also work on switching between these activities, as this can be very difficult for someone recovering from a stroke. A physical therapist will outline a series of exercises that will help you slowly regain these movements at a pace that suits your needs.

Occupational Therapy

• Perhaps the second most important therapy need for those recovering from a stroke is contacting a good occupational therapist. Once your basic movements, such as walking, have improved, you will need to work on regaining some of your daily skills that were lost due to damaged areas of the brain.

  An occupational therapy program will work on retraining you to swallow, to use the bathroom and to dress yourself. These are fine-motor activities that may take many months of therapy before you see improvement. Later stages of occupational therapy also involve relearning activities such as cooking, reading and writing.

Speech Therapy

• When brain damage occurs in the the language centers of the brain, a stroke victim's speech may be unintelligible to nonexistent. Speech therapy can help teach other areas of the brain to take on some of the lost language center's reponsibility. This capability of the brain is called plasticity.

  A speech therapist will help you relearn how to speak or, if necessary, help you learn some other form of communication. Regaining speech is often the final key in restoring independence to a stroke victim, as considerable frustration comes from not being able to fully relay thoughts and feelings.