Rehabilitation after a stroke

Stroke is fraught with a multitude of consequences, often irreversible, and a patient with stroke, requires a long rehabilitation and specialized treatment. The goal of rehabilitation of stroke patients is complete or partial restoration of impaired functions and abilities, overcoming or alleviating disability.

Restorative treatment is divided into 3 stages:

• early (up to 3 months);
• late (up to 1 year);
• stage of compensation for residual motor function disorders (over 1 year).

Early rehabilitation after a stroke

Primary rehabilitation should begin in the first days after the attack. Prolonged immobility can cause additional complications, such as pneumonia, problems with restoring motor activity, etc., so bedridden patients need to be regularly turned over, changed their position. As soon as the patient's condition has stabilized, it is necessary to estimate the permissible volume of physical and emotional stresses and start the exercises under medical supervision.

A significant moment of rehabilitation at this time is exercise therapy. At an early stage it is especially important to deal with the affected limbs, give them a certain position, bend and unbend (if the patient is not able to do it themselves), do a light massage. In the absence of contraindications, the patient should sit in bed 2-3 days after an ischemic stroke, and one and a half to two weeks after hemorrhagic stroke. Then, if the patient can normally sit, he learns to stand and walk anew, first with special attachments, and then using the cane.

The rehabilitation program is individual in each case, it is developed based on the individual characteristics of the patient, and in the presence of additional diseases - must be coordinated with other doctors. For example, with heart disease, the rehabilitation program must be coordinated with the cardiologist.

Rehabilitation means and methods

In addition to therapeutic gymnastics, there are a number of other methods that help fight the consequences of strokes.

1. Massage (manual, with the help of special devices, hydromassage).
2. Myostimulation of different muscle groups.
3. Wearing special costumes that help restore motor functions.
4. Darsonval - treatment with pulses of high frequency current.
5. Treatment by a magnetic field of low intensity.
6. Treatment with mineral waters.
7. Consultations psychologist - for patients with mental problems and disorders after a stroke.
8. Patients with speech disorders are shown classes with a speech therapist.
9. To restore fine motor skills, drawing, modeling, working with children's cubes and designers is recommended.
10. Physiotherapy - various baths, iontophoresis, acupuncture, helium-oxygen inhalations, etc.

Often patients after a stroke are shown sanatorium treatment or stay in special rehabilitation centers.

Rehabilitation at home

The patient needs to create comfortable conditions, ensure the arrangement of furniture and household appliances so that he can not drop anything or hit him in the fall, since after a stroke, coordination is usually broken. In the room it is desirable to put an armchair from which a person can get up himself, without outside help. He needs to learn how to walk again, use things, develop speech.

When home rehabilitation is very important is a psychological factor. Patients after a stroke are often prone to unreasonable mood changes, outbreaks of aggression or, conversely, to depression. Therefore, they need to be supported, not to provoke stress and try in every possible way to evoke interest in life and the desire to work to overcome the consequences of the disease, to promote their psychological and social rehabilitation.