After a stroke, it is important to start making aerobic exercise part of your routine. Physical inactivity is a risk factor for stroke, so exercising can help prevent a recurrent stroke. In addition to physical benefits, aerobic exercise has been found to promote cognitive recovery in stroke survivors.
1–3 Months Post-Stroke
“The first three months after a stroke are the most important for recovery and when patients will see the most improvement,” says Raghavan. During this time, most patients will enter and complete an inpatient rehabilitation program, or make progress in their outpatient therapy sessions.
The Role of Sleep in Stroke Recovery
Quality sleep has many benefits, especially for stroke survivors. Getting a good night's sleep supports neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to restructure and create new neural connections in healthy parts of the brain, allowing stroke survivors to re-learn movements and functions.
Cardiovascular exercise can also improve the sensory perception and motor skills of stroke survivors. Walking outside or on a treadmill, stationary cycling, recumbent cross training and many other forms of exercise that get your heart pumping are extremely beneficial for stroke recovery.
The key to stroke treatment and recovery is getting to the hospital quickly. Yet 1 in 3 stroke patients never calls 9-1-1. Calling an ambulance means that medical staff can begin life-saving treatment on the way to the emergency room.
You should be screened by your healthcare provider on your ability to participate in aerobic exercise as soon as possible after your stroke. Once you are cleared by a doctor, you should begin making exercise a part of your rehabilitation routine.
While exercise is necessary for good health and recovery after stroke, it's important for patients to avoid overexercising. Pushing the body too hard can potentially result in regression or exacerbate conditions like post-stroke fatigue.
The initial recovery following stroke is most likely due to decreased swelling of brain tissue, removal of toxins from the brain, and improvement in the circulation of blood in the brain. Cells damaged, but not beyond repair, will begin to heal and function more normally.
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.
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. Some signs point to physical therapy.
The ability to walk can be recovered after a stroke because the brain and spinal cord can change when a person does physical exercise as rehabilitation. Rehabilitation means to recover function after an injury. There are many types of tools that doctors can use to help with rehabilitation.
When communicating with a stroke survivor who has communication problems (aphasia), it is helpful to: Be patient. Eliminate distractions. Turn off the TV, limit extraneous noise.
Regarding the duration of fatigue after stroke, acute fatigue can last up to 6 months, whereas the chronic type can persist in 40% of patients after 2 years. Another study reported fatigue to be still present in one-third of patients up to 6 years after stroke onset.
The guidelines recommend that stroke survivors engage in 20 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise such as walking three to seven days per week. The exercise can be done in 10-minute intervals with the goal being at least 20 minutes per day.
As you begin to recover, you might feel that your behaviour changes or improves. You may start feeling better physically and emotionally. But some changes will be long term. You are still the same person, but a stroke may change the way you respond to things.
Even if your mobility is restricted after a stroke, it is likely you will be able to carry out some form of exercise to improve your overall wellbeing.
“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.
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.
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.
In the early weeks and months after a stroke your body is healing and the rehabilitation process takes up a lot of energy so it is very common to feel tired.
Stroke can affect muscles in your arms, legs, hands and feet. After a stroke, the muscles may become limp and feel heavy (flaccid or low tone). In the weeks or months after a stroke, the muscles may shorten and become very tight, making them more difficult to move. This is called spasticity (high-tone).