Recovery time after a stroke is different for everyone—it can take weeks, months, or even years. Some people recover fully, but others have long-term or lifelong disabilities. Learn more about stroke rehabilitation from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months after a stroke, but some survivors continue to recover well into the first and second year after their stroke.
Most cognitive functions will return with time and rehabilitation, but you may find they do not return to the way they were before. The damage a stroke causes to your brain also increases the risk of developing vascular dementia. This may happen immediately after a stroke or it may develop some time later.
Even after surviving a stroke, you're not out of the woods, since having one makes it a lot more likely that you'll have another. In fact, of the 795,000 Americans who will have a first stroke this year, 23 percent will suffer a second stroke.
It is possible to live a normal life after a stroke, but you will need to actively participate in your rehab. Brain injuries can affect mobility, swallowing, speech and, therefore, your ability to do the vital tasks of daily living. So, you will need help, support, counselling, encouragement, and loving care.
After six months, improvements are possible but will be much slower. Most stroke patients reach a relatively steady state at this point. For some, this means a full recovery. Others will have ongoing impairments, also called chronic stroke disease.
Three Months. The first three months of recovery are when a patient will see the most improvement, and gains may happen rapidly over time. Some stroke survivors will continue to improve after this period, however, If the brain stem was affected during the stroke recovery could take up to a year or even longer.
There is an evident association between both acute and chronic emotional stress and risk of stroke.
First-Stroke Patients' 5-Year Survival Rates Study
Of the surviving patients, 60 percent who suffered an ischemic stroke and 38 percent with intracerebral hemorrhage survived one year, compared to 31 percent and 24 percent, respectively, after five years.
You can develop vascular dementia after a stroke blocks an artery in your brain, but strokes don't always cause vascular dementia. Whether a stroke affects your thinking and reasoning depends on your stroke's severity and location.
Because walking is such an important element of day-to-day functioning, recovering functionality in the leg is the central priority for recovering from a stroke. The arm, though, can be left to do little to nothing for the remainder of the survivor's life.
After the first 3 months in your stroke recovery timeline, results often slow down and result in a plateau. At this point, most survivors are back at home continuing recovery both on their own and in outpatient therapy. Fortunately, even though the plateau may slow things down, it does not mean that recovery is over.
Many doctors will refer to a stroke as massive based upon the outcome of the victim after an attack. A massive stroke commonly refers to strokes (any type) that result in death, long-term paralysis, or coma.
The most common types of disability after stroke are impaired speech, restricted physical abilities, weakness or paralysis of limbs on one side of the body, difficulty gripping or holding things, and a slowed ability to communicate.
A stroke happens when blood flow to your brain is stopped. It is an emergency situation. It can be caused by a narrowed blood vessel, bleeding, or a clot that blocks blood flow.
Unfortunately, blood thinners can reduce the risk of clot-related stroke only to increase the risk of stroke related to bleeding and blood vessel rupture. To prevent unwanted complications from blood thinners, patients may need to make lifestyle and adjustments moving forward.
Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke. One study found that 43% of stroke patients experienced mini-stroke symptoms up to a week before they had a major stroke.
Managing blood pressure levels, reducing or quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and regular physical activity will reduce the risk of a second stroke, along with managing conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
“We found that a stroke reduced a patient's life expectancy by five and a half years on average, compared with the general population,” Dr Peng said.
Having a stroke can affect your emotions and personality. You may laugh or cry for no reason. These changes can be hard to adjust to, especially for those closest to you. Emotional and personality changes can get better with time.