The 4 Most Common Disabilities Following a Stroke скачать в хорошем качестве

The 4 Most Common Disabilities Following a Stroke

After suffering a stroke, the survivor, and even the caregiver, are thrust into a world that for most of us is wildly alien. And because of the tons of ways stroke impose itself on the survivor, let's cover the four more common disabilities that ensue following a stroke. Hemiparesis? Hemiparesis is the presence of weakness and/or the inability to move on one side of the body. Only vaguely similar to paralysis, hemiparesis commonly may cause balance and walking problems, failure to grab and/or hold onto items, and/or lack coordination doing so, and in my father’s case, join and extremity deformities as well. Shortly after returning home after your hospital or rehab stays, there will be, as needed, a series of home visits from physical and occupational therapists that will help the stroke survivor recover strength, mobility and agility to the side of the body affected by hemiparesis. These motor function specialists will assist the stroke survivor in restoring critical and now challenging musculoskeletal capabilities. Drop Foot Drop foot, also commonly called foot drop, is a condition characterized by difficulty lifting the front part of the foot high enough (vertically), while walking, to avoid dragging it over surfaces. If the stroke survivor is suffering from drop foot, the front of your foot might make perpetual contact with surfaces as the stroke survivor attempts to walk. Foot drop is not a disease, but a physical condition associated with the underlying neurological and muscular circumstances brought on by the stroke. Treatments include physical and occupational therapies, that can at first me arduous and discouraging. Because the stroke survivor is essentially learning to walk again, it is vital that he or she be perseverant during the stroke recovery process, as in my father’s situation, he is now able to traverse most surfaces with little assistance. Spasticity Far better-known by the layman's term, "Charley horse," spasticity is the presence of an involuntary and convulsive muscle contraction that includes tendon and nerve reaction. Unfortunately, spasticity can be permanent in some cases. Aside from the muscle cramps one can suffer, while in a sitting or prone position, sometimes spasticity is accompanied by freezing of hand or elbow movement, along with foot, knee or calf muscle pains as well. Repetitive hand, wrist therapy or affected areas injections of Botox has been proven to dramatically reduce pain associated with spasticity. In some cases, even minor surgery sometimes is among the host of alternate treatments available to mitigate the difficulties brought on by spasticity. When all else fails, massaging the area, mor performing basic physical therapy stretches may relieve discomfort as well. Aphasia Among the most noticeable disabilities, aphasia tends to become progressively more present in the immediate days following a stroke. The affliction is marked by one’s inability to use typical powers of speech, annunciate words and even in some cases, understand what’s being said to the survivor. Aphasia also may manifest as an inability to read and write. Although there are many brain injuries that may result in aphasia, it is a disability more commonly associated with stroke. Aphasia can be mild, characterized by only minor speech and language limitations, or severe, as was the case with my father, where he could not form words or convert thoughts into spoken sentences in the days following his stroke. Early in his rehabilitation, a therapist tending to him remembered their first meeting this way: my father was unable to speak his name or read or write and only uttered the same four words, again and again, that had no relationship with one another at all. As you watch this episode, you will plainly hear and see that someone literally unable to speak a coherent sentence, neither mechanically, nor intellectually, has fully overcome aphasia and the challenges it presents. Said my dad, “Knowing how difficult it once was for me to put four coherent words together, I cannot begin to explain the sense of pride I feel for having been asked yearly to speak at an annual aphasia group event at The Adler Aphasia Center in Maywood, New Jersey.” Treatment for aphasia is performed by a licensed speech-language therapist or SLP. Early in treatment, the SLP may seek to establish some early wins to both determine what the stroke survivor can accomplish, but also to help establish some early confidence, as aphasia too can be a discouraging disability from which to recover. The SLP commonly uses those initial victories as the catalyst for the survivor’s overall progress, providing the patient with an immediate sense of triumph to build upon. Aphasia is a complex affliction, with many formal classifications - too many to address in this installment. The SLP will identify and prescribe the proper treatment based upon the stroke survivor’s circumstances.