How can physiotherapy help a stroke survivor?

A stroke occurs when there is a blockage or a bleeding within the brain resulting in damage to part of the brain. It is also known as a cerebrovascular accident or CVA. Depending on what blood vessels are affected will depend upon the area of brain damaged and the extent of disability.

Stroke can affect people in a variety of ways including vision problems, speech and swallowing difficulty, fatigue, muscle weakness and loss of movement, balance problems, sensation changes, confusion, memory problems and behavioral changes. With more than 50,000 Australians per year suffering the effects of a stroke and 70% of survivors having problems using their arm or hand it is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide.

How can Physiotherapy help?

Physiotherapy management for a stroke survivor is very dependent on each individuals presentation and problems. Currently techniques involve that of ‘motor retraining’ in those with movement difficulties with the aim to recreate new pathways for the brain to use, termed ‘neural plasticity’. The earlier this can be implemented the chance of restoring some meaning movement important to the individual is increased, giving the best chance to achieve their full potential for recovery.  Recent research out of the UK also shows promising results for intensive and specific motor retraining in people who are classified as having a chronic stroke (more than 6 months). This indicates that new pathways in the brain can still be developed months and possibly years later.

The motor retraining or relearning is based on practicing repetitive, functional movements such as practicing parts of the movement that make up a task. For example picking up a glass of water. Such a simple sounding task can be extremely difficult for a survivor. Breaking the components of the task up into parts and practicing them in a meaningful way can assist in re-learning the full movement pattern and help develop a new pathway in the brain to perform this task.

Physiotherapy can assess and treat individuals who have disabilities following a stroke by prescribing appropriate exercises to assist with movement, strengthening, mobility and balance in order to achieve optimal recovery.

Kim Garland 
Symmetry Physiotherapy