Recovery design for cerebrovascular accident (stroke) depends on a plethora of variables including but not limited to; severity, affected area, amount of time elapsed without medical attention, rehabilitation available and amount of rehabilitation or physical therapy covered by health insurance. While no two cases are the exact same, many individuals recovering from stroke exhibit similar symptoms and defects as a result. “One common result of stroke is muscular atrophy and weakness of peripheral nerves and limbs of affected areas”.2 Weakness is often profound in the contralesional hand after stroke. Often times paralysis is misconceived as a malfunction in the muscle making it unusable, however, the science behind the truth of paralysis of any type is that the issue is among the nerve pathways and not the muscles. Hemiplegic subjects are often unable to use one arm and hand functionally. “This disability leads to the development of compensatory strategies for accomplishing daily needs and frequently minimizes the use of the paretic arm and hand”.1This causes muscles on the affected side or sides to draw up or curl,joints to calcify and cause muscular ischemia.
Many new rehabilitation treatments were designed to enhance the concentrated use of the paretic arm and hand (e.g., intensive exercise [5,6], Constrained Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) [7–9], robot-induced therapy [10], and electrical stimulation.1 However, one of the most popular and effective methods for muscular therapy and stroke therapy is Functional Therapy, (using routine daily activities to move and regain function.
1 Popovic, M., Popovic, D., Sinkjr, T., Stefanovic, A., & Schwirtlich, L. (2003). Clinical evaluation of Functional Electrical Therapy in acute hemiplegic subjects. The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 40(5), 443-443. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
2 Triandafilou, K., & Kamper, D. (2011). Investigation of hand muscle atrophy in stroke survivors. Clinical Biomechanics, 27(3), 268-272. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
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I would be interested to know what kind of specialized equipment or tools help stroke survivors to regain the ability to perform daily tasks without impedance from muscle atrophy. Certainly losing effective functionality of a limb is frustrating and this would be something that all stroke survivors would want to regain.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to work with my aunt who is an OT, they showed me this type of glove that they put on the patient to help straighten their hand. So there are little ways they have in aiding to help these victims.
ReplyDeleteMy great grandfather had a major stroke, and only some of his motor skills came back, it really took him a long time to start talking again. However, thanks to advancements such as Therapists figuring out ways to help survivors beat cost of insurance and use other methods of rehabilitation, such as simple functional therapy.
ReplyDeleteIf all stroke victims knew what is written above I think there would be a better prognosis of each patient. Taking care of yourself following a stroke will increase your chances of better quality of life.
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