5 Factors You Can Control in Stroke Recovery
Neurological rehabilitation is a complex process, influenced by many factors – most of which are outside of your control. You can’t control your age, how big your stroke was, or how severe your deficits are. You have limited control over your access to skilled therapy and whether you have a solid support network of friends and family in place. While this lack of control can leave you feeling helpless, there are some important aspects of your recovery that you can take responsibility for.
Here's how these 5 personal factors can impact your stroke recovery:
Recognition
In order to improve, first you must have awareness that there is a problem. If you think you speak just fine, it’s highly unlikely you’ll put in the time and effort required to change your speech. Some stroke and brain injury survivors are unaware they have problems with communication or cognition, a condition called anosognosia, so when they come to therapy, they don’t understand why they’re being asked to do the tasks. Building insight into the problem is an important first step in rehabilitation.
Motivation
After you recognize you have a problem, you must have the desire to change. If you know your speech is slurred but don’t care, why would you put in the time and effort to improve it? Some people lack motivation because they’re suffering from clinical depression, while some strokes physically damage the neural networks and dopamine pathways that control motivation. If you are feeling chronically unmotivated to improve a known impairment, talk to your doctor. And remember, it’s the person with the problem who must want to change – not just their family.
Determination
Having the desire to change is a great start, but you also need the resolve to do the work. Changing the brain is possible with repetition and time. There are no easy fixes, so if you really want to change, you have to be prepared to put in the effort – especially when it gets hard. Setting up small tangible rewards for yourself along the way can keep you moving forward when changes in your communication are harder to see.
Direction
You know there’s a problem, you want to change, and you’re ready to work hard – now you need a road map. This is where having a good therapist can help you set realistic goals, helping you know where you’re going and how to get there. You’ll receive instructions, exercises, or activities to help you improve.
Conviction
Deep down, you have to believe that change is possible. Hope is a powerful drug that makes therapy so much more effective. Some people hear from their doctors that they won’t get any better after 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year… These timelines are untrue and can destroy hope. Hope alone won’t make you better, but without hope, progress is rare.
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Have you ever thought about doing core exercises on a chair? (no, me neither). Sit on a hard chair so the back of it is by your good arm. Then lean back, safely, as far as you can, to work your core. So its the same exercise without having to get down to the floor. So wherever you are shuffle forward a bit to give yourself some space to lean back and you can do it anywhere. Clever!
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Need a last minute gift for a stroke survivor? How about a copy of The Successful Stroke Survivor. You can buy a Kindle book as a gift. These notes from Amazon explain how to do it.
To purchase a Kindle book as a gift:
From the Kindle Store in your desktop browser, select the book you want to purchase as a gift.
(Note: Free books, books on pre-order, and subscriptions cannot be gifted at this time).
On the product detail page, click the Buy for others button.
Enter the personal email address of your gift recipient.
Tip: If you are unsure of the email address for your recipient, you can select Email the gift to me before placing your order. This allows you to forward the gift email or print and personally deliver it to your recipient. The gift recipient can enter the Gift Claim Code from the email, after logging in to their Amazon account.
Enter a delivery date and an optional gift message.
Click Place your order to finish your gift purchase using your Amazon 1-Click payment method.
You can redeliver a Kindle book gift you've purchased by going to Your Digital Orders in Your Account. From the Order Summary page, click the Resend E-mail button.
#strokerecovery #neurorehab #strokeexercise #neurorehabilitation #strokerehabilitation #strokesurvivorscan #neuroplasticity #strokerehab #strokerecoveryexercises #exerciseafterstroke
So now you can buy, or someone can buy for you, a copy of The Successful Stroke Survivor.
The Successful Stroke Survivor eBook : Balchin, Tom: Amazon.co.uk: Books
www.amazon.co.uk
The Successful Stroke Survivor eBook : Balchin, Tom: Amazon.co.uk: Books
A habit is something that you do with little effort because you’ve done it hundreds of times before. Repetitive action creates strong pathways in the brain for that specific habit, which is why habits eventually become “mindless.”
In contrast to this, a stroke can mean that someone has to exert more effort to perform activities of daily living, such as getting dressed. That’s because the stroke damaged the strong neural pathways that once controlled those skills.
Luckily, the brain can rewire itself to rebuild those neural pathways again. As with all habits, you won’t see results without consistent effort; repeated on a regular basis.
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#arnistrokecharity #stroke #strokesurvivors #neuroplasticity #neurorehab #strokerecovery #neurorehab #strokeexercise #strokesurvivorscan
ARNI Stroke Charity for stroke survivors, families and healthcare professionals: providing specialist rehabilitation and exercise support after hospital and community physiotherapy finishes.
www.arni.uk.com
#arnistrokecharity #strokesurvivorscan #strokesurvivors #strokerecovery #neuroplasticity #strokeexercise #neurorehab #ARNIstrokerehab #strokerehabilitation
A habit is something that you do with little effort because you’ve done it hundreds of times before. Repetitive action creates strong pathways in the brain for that specific habit, which is why habits eventually become “mindless.”
In contrast to this, a stroke can mean that someone has to exert more effort to perform activities of daily living, such as getting dressed. That’s because the stroke damaged the strong neural pathways that once controlled those skills.
Luckily, the brain can rewire itself to rebuild those neural pathways again. As with all habits, you won’t see results without consistent effort; repeated on a regular basis.
if you want help to develop good habits (that help with your recovery) then call us on 0203 053 0111 or email support@arni.uk.com. We have trainers throughout the country who can help you.
www.arni.uk.com
#arnistrokecharity #stroke #strokesurvivors #neuroplasticity #neurorehab #strokerecovery #neurorehab #strokeexercise #strokesurvivorscan
First 2025 Instructor Qualification Training course starts on 25th January
Find out more here arni.uk.com/instructors/ Click on Cohort 1 button on this page for full list of training dates for this course
Sleep helps improve recovery after stroke by turning the short-term memories from the day’s rehab exercises into long-term memories.
If you fail to give your body the rest it needs, then your progress can go backward.
So make sure you get some ZZZs!
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What's the perfect present for a stroke survivor?
An ARNI DVD. Or maybe the whole set?
And with online streaming you don't even need to wait for them to be delivered.
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Have YOU got aphasia?
Approximately 40% of stroke survivors experience this difficulty: to comprehend or produce spoken or written language caused by a cerebrovascular accident. In half of these cases the language impairment still persists one year post-stroke. Aphasia has wide-ranging effects on the ability to function and quality of life of stroke survivors and easily leads to social isolation.
If you need help, ARNI SLT Telerehab can now help YOU, right now, wherever you are in the world!
The latest evidence shows clearly that you can conquer aphasia very successfully with the help of speech and language therapy.
And it also shows that SLT Telerehab is just as effective as in-person, face to face treatment.
We have a team of highly experienced low-cost specialist SLTs (all post-grads from Universities such as UCL, the University of Cape Town etc) who are available to help you right now, in your home, via Zoom. You get a one to one hourly service, based around your diary needs, from the comfort of your own home, with a highly experienced specialist speech and language therapist. Please enquire to arni.uk.com/get-remote-speech-language-help-now/ !
#aphasia #strokesurvivors #strokerecovery #strokerehabilitation #strokerehab #aphasiaawareness #neurorehabilitation #arni #exerciseafterstroke #strokeexercise #strokerecoveryexercises #neuroplasticity #ARNIstrokerehab
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GET SPECIALIST SPEECH, LANGUAGE & COGNITIVE THERAPY WHEREVER YOU LIVE | ARNI
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Mum had severe aphasia after suffering a dense stroke which has also left her unable to walk, with her right side paralysed. We were terribly disappointed by the lack of therapy she received to date�...
