Stroke Rehabilitation

When a stroke occurs, you may find your life has been changed in an instant. Stroke survivors deal with a flood of emotions, along with physical limitations. Survivors often suffer grief and sadness. Depending on how severe the stroke was, there can be a lot of neurological damage that can drastically alter one’s quality of life. Coping with a stroke can be one of the most difficult obstacles you have ever faced. The best things you can do are seek help for symptoms of depression and anxiety, spend time with family and friends, maintain your quality of life by staying active and doing things you enjoy, and most importantly, make the most of your rehabilitation.

What therapy options are available for stroke survivors? The most common rehabilitation therapies for stroke survivors are physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Vision therapy can also be helpful. Rehabilitation is an important part in stroke recovery. Survivors can greatly enhance their quality of life by making the most out of rehab.

Physical therapy helps to restore physical functions, like walking and general movement. Exercises typical in physical therapy are strengthening motor skills (muscle strength, coordination), mobility training (learning to use walking aids), and range-of-motion therapy (exercises that help relieve muscle tension).

Occupational therapy helps to restore skills needed for everyday living, such as eating, dressing, toileting and taking care of one’s self. Speech and language therapy is very important if the stroke has affected the left side of the brain (where the speech and language center of the brain lies). Aphasia and memory loss are common with stroke survivors. Working with a speech pathologist can greatly improve what many individuals feel is the most frustrating part of recovery.

Vision therapy aims to retrain, strengthen and sharpen vision that may have been lost as a result of a stroke. Stroke survivors can have blurred vision, confusion, and eye strain that can prevent such activities as going back to work and even performing simple tasks around the house. For more information about stroke rehabilitation, contact Sheltering Arms in Richmond, VA.