Recovery Stages for Stroke
Introduction
If you or someone you love had a stroke, the first aspect of your search would be the process of stroke recovery. How long does it take to recover from a stroke? Well, the answer to that is complicated, as no two strokes are the same.
Some people might feel better in a few days, while the recovery process may last for over a year for some. Considering that each of our bodies works differently, it is nearly impossible to specify how long the recovery period will be. But in this blog, we have tried to break down things to understand the rate of recovery better.
Stroke recovery stages
In this section, we will go over the recovery stages from right after a person has had a stroke to over a year later and what improvement you should expect over time. Let us get started:
It goes without saying that a stroke is a medical emergency, and the victim should be immediately taken to the emergency department, even if it just involves a mild stroke recovery.
Diagnosis of the stroke
The first few minutes and hours after a person begins to portray symptoms of a stroke are extremely crucial, and proper treatment during this time can increase the recovery rates. When the patient is admitted to the emergency department, a CT scan is performed to identify the stroke. Various tests are conducted for further patient treatment, which begins immediately after the diagnosis.
Initial Treatment
Once the type of stroke is identified, the treatment for that stroke is undertaken. There are mainly two types of strokes – ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes.
Beginning of the recovery
Once the initially required treatment is completed, the recovery begins instantly, such as brain exercises for stroke recovery. The healthcare provider will discuss with the patient or the family member the right recovery plans based on the patient’s condition.
First few weeks
Under normal conditions, the stroke patient is discharged within 4 to 7 days. If the conditions are severe, the patient may be hospitalised for up to 3 weeks. After the patient is discharged, they will have to begin their therapy, bringing them further into the stroke recovery stages.
The patient can attend rehabilitation at one of the following:
The at-home options may sound convenient, but this option only has an adherence of about 15-50 per cent, which is very low when it comes to physical therapy. With our LusioMATE, the physical therapy process becomes much easier with entertaining games for the patient, no matter their age.
Types of therapy needed after a stroke:
- Physical therapy for motion development
- Cognitive therapy as brain exercises for stroke recovery
- Speech therapy to recover the ability to speak
First few months
This is the most important period, as most of the improvement happens in the first three months after the stroke. The shorter therapy programs have ended by now. After this period, the recovery rate slows down significantly. But that is not to say that it stops completely. In fact, stroke recovery continues as long as the patient is in therapy.
Your healthcare provider or rehabilitation facility may ask you to continue therapy if the lost abilities have not been regained. For example, if the patient has not regained the ability to speak after three months, the speech therapy must go on.
First six months
Improvement at this stage is possible, but they will be much slower. For some cases, this is as far as mild stroke recovery goes, but chances of recovery depend on various factors relating to the patient. Patients who lost the ability to walk mostly regain it by the six-month mark.
With LusioMATE, you get a physical therapy suite with wearable Bluetooth sensors. The fun games in this suite encourage movement therapy in patients and show increased positive results as compared to at-home therapy. This gadget can be used at home, at clinics or anywhere.
After a year
At this mark, most of the survivors have completed their therapy programs and seen improvements along the way. The chances of stages of motor recovery in stroke after this stage are almost minimal but still there.
One such data presents that out of the stroke survivors who could not walk without assistance at the six-month mark, 74 per cent learned to walk before the two-year mark.
Once you have attended the therapy sessions, you can join support groups and talk with other stroke survivors about your journey. Such an environment can tremendously help with your mental well-being.
Conclusion
Those were the main stages of stroke recovery, starting from day one to over a year later. What happens a lot of the time is that patients are not motivated enough to participate in therapy, especially physical therapy where the patient needs to work on their fine and gross motor skills. And without proper therapy, the chances of a greater recovery dropdown.
With Lusio Rehab's LusioMATE, you or your loved one can complete their physical therapy program with fun and engaging games. These games which also double as exergames and cognigames, encourage patients of any age from 4 to 94 to achieve their movement goals and go ahead in the stages of motor recovery from stroke.
