Stroke Rehabilitation

What is stroke rehabilitation?

Stroke rehabilitation (rehab) helps you learn how to do things that you did before you had a stroke. Rehab helps you recover from the stroke and adapt to problems resulting from the stroke. You will learn how to manage new disabilities so you can be as independent as possible.

Rehab can start as soon as a stroke is over and your condition is stable. This is usually within days after the stroke.

Most insurance covers the cost of stroke rehab programs. Primary care doctors can supervise simple rehab programs. Specialists who are board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation direct more complex rehab programs.

What kinds of problems does a stroke cause?

When you have a stroke, parts of your brain are damaged permanently. Other parts of the brain around the stroke area may be damaged only temporarily and may start working normally again after the stroke. Sometimes, a different part of the brain takes over for a damaged part.

The damage to your brain can affect your senses, movement of your muscles, and speech. Often it causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face or body. A stroke can also change behavior, thoughts, and memory. For example, once-familiar objects from the past may not be familiar anymore.

The mental problems caused by a stroke can be very serious. You may find that you cry easily or laugh uncontrollably. Depression is common. It is important for your family to understand that many mental problems, even personality changes, may be caused by a stroke. You need their support as you recover.

Are there different kinds of stroke rehab?

There are 3 main kinds of stroke rehab:

• Physical therapy (PT) helps restore physical abilities and skills like walking and range of movement. PT works on problems such as partial or one-sided paralysis, balance problems, or weakness.
• Occupational therapy (OT) helps you relearn the skills you need for everyday living such as eating, using the toilet, dressing, and taking care of yourself.
• Speech and language therapy can help problems with swallowing, speaking, or understanding speech. You may be able to think as well as you could before the stroke, but you may not be able to get the right words out or understand what you are hearing. (This is usually caused by a stroke on the left side of the brain.) Speech language therapists can help with memory loss and other thought problems caused by a stroke.

Your healthcare provider will determine what kinds of rehab will best help you.

What will I do in rehab?

What you do in rehab depends on what you need to relearn. You may work to become more independent in many areas. These include:

• self-care skills such as feeding, grooming, bathing, and dressing
• skills for getting around, such as walking or using a wheelchair
• communication skills in speech
• thinking skills such as memory or problem solving
• skills for interacting with other people.

Depending on how bad the stroke was, you may have rehab treatments in:

• a rehab unit in the hospital
• a rehab clinic
• your home
• a long-term care facility that provides therapy and skilled nursing care.

What are the benefits?

Stroke rehab can help you and your family during a difficult time. The most valuable benefits are independence and improved quality of life. How fast and how much you get better depends on how bad the stroke was. Most of the recovery that is possible will happen within 6 to 12 months after the stroke.