Passive range of motion exercises for stroke survivors have many benefits, including reducing spasticity and improving mobility. These exercises involve a therapist or the survivors non affected side moving the affected side. Although survivors should feel as though they are stretching while completing passive range of motion exercises, the exercises should never be painful. F
or passive range of motion exercise recommendations, call us on 0203 053 0111 or email support@arni.uk.com to find out if there's a trainer near you who can help you.
www.arni.uk#strokerecoveryo#neuroplasticityi#strokeexerciser#strokerehabilitationa#neurorehabilitationa#NeuroRehabr#strokerehabr#strokesurvivorscanr#strokerecoveryexercisesc#exerciseafterstroketroke
... See MoreSee Less
Happy 25th Anniversary to ARNI Stroke Rehab Charity & its teaching Institute! 🎈✨ It is truly incredible to look back at life-changing journey which began in Lingfield, Surrey, way back in 2001. After suffering a massive stroke himself as a young man, Dr. Tom Balchin refused to accept the 'plateau' theory and started rehabilitating a small group of just five fellow survivors in a local hall 🏠🦾. What started as a grassroots effort to find better ways to recover has blossomed over two and a half decades into a powerhouse of neurological rehabilitation that has touched thousands of lives across the globe 🌍❤️.
Most people don't realize the sheer level of dedication behind the scenes, but here is a truly inspiring fact: Dr. Tom has led ARNI as a full-time volunteer for the entire 25 years, never accepting a single penny in payment from the charity he built 🤯🙌. His selfless mission has transformed a small initial group training weekly in one place, into an international force, made up of hundreds of ARNI Instructors who deliver the specialist ARNI Approach to survivors every day. This unique method was formalised in 2007 when Tom created the National Stroke Rehab Course, a rigorous qualification he continues to refine and run twice a year to ensure trainers have the elite skills necessary to help survivors regain their independence 🎓⚡️.
Today, ARNI stands as a beacon of hope, proving that with the right evidence-based task-specific practice and a never-give-up attitude, functional recovery is always possible 🌈🦾. From those humble beginnings in a Lingfield gym to becoming a world-renowned authority on stroke rehab and exercise, the impact of Dr. Tom’s vision is immeasurable. We celebrate 25 years of strength, resilience, and community, and we can’t wait to see how many more lives are transformed in the years to come! 🥂✨
www.arni.uk.com
#ARNI25Years #StrokeRehab #DrTomBalchin #Neuroplasticity
... See MoreSee Less
Task-specific practice must not only tackle recovery milestones, such as grasping, releasing and so on, but minimise behaviours that can be introduced after stroke. It’s essentially quite simple: it’s doing the task you want to do. A lot. And making all efforts to improve. So, if you have significant spasticity in your upper limb, to retrain the ability to open a glasses case to get your specs, you practise opening up your glasses case. If you want to lift a cup and drink from it, you need to get a cup and practice lifting and drinking from it as accurately as possible, thousands of times. And attempt to improve progressively and consistently.
Call us to find out if there's an ARNI trainer who can help you on 0203 053 0111 or email support@arni.uk.com
#strokerecovery #strokerecoveryexercises #neuroplasticity #strokesurvivorscan #strokerehabilitation #neurorehab #strokeexercise #strokerehab #neurorehabilitation
... See MoreSee Less
Neuroplasticity is best activated through repetition. Meaning, when a skill is highly practiced, neuroplasticity strengthens the neural pathways for that skill. This is how you can work towards recovery during life after stroke. The more a skill is practiced, the higher the chances of strengthening neural connections for that skill and restoring function.
www.arni.uk.com
If you like this post then please share it with others. Each time that you share a post, you can directly help other people – as who knows which people in the world might find us and gain, either directly from the charity or simply by being able to copy an ‘innovative and useful’ move/trick of the trade that might help them manage after stroke.
Every time you share, you could directly help someone – as knowledge is power 😉
#neurorehabilitation #strokesurvivorscan #neurorehab #neuroplasticity #strokesurvivors #arnistrokecharity #strokeexercise
... See MoreSee Less
This is a sobering and critical update for stroke care in the UK as we start 2026: senior medical leaders, (including long-time friend of Dr Tom Balchin and ARNI, Professor David Werring), who is the past president of the British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians (BIASP), have issued a stark warning that thousands of stroke survivors are facing avoidable death or severe, lifelong disability due to a critical shortage of specialists within the NHS.
The message is clear: the system is really struggling to provide the 'right expert at the right time' - meaning many patients are missing out on the immediate, high-stakes evaluations and treatments like thrombectomy or thrombolysis that are essential for saving brain tissue in those first few golden hours. 🧠⏳
The crisis stems from a lack of consultants and specialised nursing staff, which creates a bottleneck in emergency response and diagnostic accuracy. 📉💔 Professor Werring highlighted to the Guardian today that of course this isn't just about statistics; these are real people who could be walking and talking today if the correct specialist pathways were adequately staffed and accessible 24/7 across every region. Dr Tom notes that this disgraceful postcode lottery of care means that your chances of a full recovery currently depend far too heavily on which hospital you are taken to and which experts are on shift when you arrive. 🚑📍
This warning serves as a massive call to action for this government to prioritise the recruitment and retention of stroke specialists and not waste so much money on OTHER THINGS WHICH ARE LESS A CONCERN TO THE LONG-TERM BRITISH TAXPAYER - to prevent further unnecessary tragedy. 🤝📣
While technology like AI imaging and mobile stroke units are helping, they cannot replace the clinical judgment of a seasoned stroke physician. We must have a system where every patient receives the gold-standard care they deserve, ensuring that the journey after a stroke is defined by recovery and hope, rather than av#strokecrisis #NHSStaffingi#strokeawareness2026k#HealthEquality##saveourbrains #SaveOurBrains
... See MoreSee Less
Recovering upper limb function after a stroke is often described by survivors as one of the most frustrating and intricate parts of the rehabilitation journey 🧠📉. It is incredibly difficult to coordinate the precise motor control needed to get the wrist, hand, fingers, and thumb into the perfect position to reach, grasp, and eventually release objects during Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) ☕️🖐. For many, the arm can feel heavy and/or stuck in a flexed position, making simple tasks like picking up a glass or using a fork feel like an uphill battle that requires immense mental and physical effort 😰🦾.
However, there is a powerful way to break through these barriers using the ARNI Approach, pioneered by Dr. Tom Balchin (pictured), assisting a survivor to 'get the gap', as he calls it, using a special technique he created and which is taught by all ARNI Instructors (get yours today by calling ARNI Stroke Rehab UK) and is rooted in the latest neuroscientific research 📚✨. This method focuses on aggressive, evidence-based principles that combine intensive stretching to manage presentations involving combinations of spasticity and flaccidity with high-repetition, task-specific practice 🏃♂️⚡️.
By breaking down complex movements into manageable 'chunks' and forcing the brain to find new neural pathways through neuroplasticity, survivors can begin to see real functional changes that traditional, mostly-passive, lower-intensity therapy completely misses. What makes the ARNI style so effective is its real-world focus on getting the hand to actually work in the context of your own home 🏠🔑.
Instead of just doing abstract exercises, you're trained to use your more-affected limb for meaningful actions, which builds the confidence and strength needed for true independence 🌟💪. By consistently applying these principles of physical training and functional habit-building, many survivors discover that they can indeed regain the ability to grasp and release, turning frustration into a story of incredible success and reco#ARNIstrokerehabi#strokerecoveryr#arniapproacho#UpperLimbRehabIApproach #UpperLimbRehab
... See MoreSee Less
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
www.arni.uk.com
... See MoreSee Less
The fight to save vital local healthcare services in the West Midlands has intensified as over 600 people, including people on our ARNI Stroke Rehab and Recovery page after we highlighted the issue in December, have officially signed a petition to halt the proposed closure of a dedicated stroke rehabilitation centre in the Black Country✊.
Families, former patient and community advocates of Hollybank House are raising their voices in 2026 to protect these essential beds, which provide the specialised, high-intensity care necessary for survivors to regain their independence after a neurological event 🏥🧠. For many in the region, this centre represents the difference between a successful recovery at home and long-term disability, making the news of a potential shutdown deeply distressing for local families 🌈🦾.
Supporters of the petition argue that moving rehabilitation services further away or shifting them to overstretched general wards will create a dangerous postcode lottery for stroke care 📍📉. They highlight that the specific expertise found within this Black Country unit cannot be easily replicated in a standard hospital setting, where the focus is often on acute stabilisation rather than the long-term, multidisciplinary therapy required for neurorehab 🏃♂️.
The community is calling on local NHS leaders to reconsider the impact this closure will have on vulnerable patients who already face an uphill battle during their recovery journey 🤝💔. As the number of signatures continues to grow daily, the organisers are urging more people to join the cause and demand a transparent review of the decision-making process ✍️✨.
ARNI Stroke Rehab UK says that it just demonstrates just how much the public values specialised stroke services that keep patients close to their support networks and loved ones during their most difficult times 🏠❤️. We must ensure that the progress made by stroke survivors isn't stalled by budget cuts or administrative restructuring, so let’s keep the momentum going to save this lifeline for the Black Country community! 🙌📢
www.arni.uk.com
#ARNIStrokeRehabUK #BlackCountryHealth #StrokeRehabilitation #CommunityAction
... See MoreSee Less
Through my occupational therapist I got to hear of ARNI and around a year after my stroke I had my initial session with David Francis, in Glynneath, Wales, who continues to be my instructor. I was very fortunate that David was willing to travel to my home for all my training as it was not easy for me to attend the centre at which he provides the ARNI sessions. At the start of my involvement with ARNI I also acquired Tom Balchin’s manual *The Successful Stroke Survivor*, and as well as reading about the benefits of the exercises it contained I was very enthused by the account that Tom provided of his own illness and his determination to overcome it.
