Every stroke survivor has a different recovery process. Some will experience severe physical difficulties, while others will have more difficulty with emotional recovery. Many factors affect the length, cost, and degree of difficulty for someone recovering from a stroke. Making your recovery as easy as possible is desirable and essential.
1. Understand How the Brain Heals
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to heal even after being injured. Even though this ability is well known, people often have difficulty believing it can happen to them. The brain has a unique ability to recover lost motor and sensory functions after a stroke, especially in the first year. While people think brain damage is permanent, the brain can repair itself. A person’s recovery depends on several factors, including their previous health, length of time since their stroke, and so on.
2. Focus on “Massed Practice” to Regain Lost Skills
The brain doesn’t like to lose motor functions. It will try to compensate by creating extra connections between its nerve cells in the hope that it can continue using the same system. The more you practice a skill, the more chance you have of recovering that lost function. Massed practice is the time-investment strategy necessary to help regain a lost skill.
The main idea is to keep practicing that same activity as much as possible until you see improvement or your physical therapy routine changes. This strategy also helps to reduce stress, which is good for your overall well-being. Practicing an activity slowly and continuously, over and over again, will train your brain to learn how to use the same pathways for that activity and not create new ones. If you change activities too often, you may never regain some of your lost motor functions.
3. Focus on Good Nutrition
Ensure you include plenty of healthy foods in your diet to help with recovery and overall health. Green leafy vegetables will help increase blood flow to the brain, which is vital for healing. People with strokes are known to have a higher risk of developing dementia, and stroke survivors are also more likely to develop depression. Support your brain’s ability to heal with a healthy diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and nuts. You should limit the intake of saturated fat and sugar as they inhibit neuron and behavioral plasticity.
4. Take a Comprehensive Approach to Physical Therapy
When your doctor refers you to a physical therapist, you must take a comprehensive approach for the best chance at recovery. Physical therapists are trained to help not only with mobility but also to help improve your speech and language skills, coordination, strength, and endurance. They can also help you improve your ability to get in and out of bed or a chair. A physical therapist can also help reduce the risk of developing infections and injuries from the effects of poor circulation. Mobility therapy is typically used to help you improve your mobility, while strengthening can help build muscle strength in the body. A foot drop brace, for example, can be used to help improve the muscle strength of the patient’s foot and, consequently, improve dorsiflexion.
5. Don’t Get Discouraged if Progress Slows
If you see that progress is slowing, don’t become discouraged. Sometimes you may be very frustrated and feel like you need more to improve. Your physical therapist may change your routine to counter this problem. Try to remain positive and remember that it can take time for some improvements to take place. Slow and steady wins the race. As your brain continues to heal, you may be making minor improvements. They don’t even have to be related to your primary injury, as you may regain some functions in the other parts of your body.
6. Experiment With Different Rehabilitation Methods
One of the most significant factors in stroke recovery is how motivated you are to recover. The effort you put into your recovery process is proportional to how much progress you will make. Help improve your motivation level by trying different rehabilitation methods, especially those that include cognitive exercises. Go to a stroke support group to share experiences with other stroke survivors who are further along in their recovery process.
Conclusion
A stroke is not a death sentence. People often see their recovery as unfavorable, but you can have your stroke and have a full life. You will have to put in extra time and effort to get there. The more you know about recovery, the better your chances are for success.
