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| Richard Burns Live or Die: A Stroke of Good Luck |
Next up on the list of medical professioinals specializing in post-stroke rehabilitation are the Physical Therapists. Physical Therapists specialize in treating the disabilities that stroke survivors may have related to motor and ensory problems. They are trained in all aspects of of anatomy and physiology related to normal bodily function, normal bodily movement. They assess strength, they assess endurance, range of motion, abnormalities in function and design programs of rehabilitation aimed at regaining those lost motor functions.
Physical Therapists help the stroke survivor to regain the use of stroke-impaired limbs, teach strategies to reduce problems of function and develop and practice exercise programs to help retrain the brain function....they call it neuroplasticity. I call it rewiring the brain and the body to work and communicate together once again. It takes time. It takes hard work. But the end result is worth it. Because it works.
Physical therapy emphasizes practicing movements repeatedly, changing, rehearsing and planning movements, rehearsing complex movements that require coordination and balance. Those who are weak or impaired can practice movements in hydro-therapy (water provides weight support and sensory stimulation). And, perhaps the most telling new development is the therapist's ability to apply sensory stimulation to encourage the use of impaired limbs on those parts of the body that have been previously neglected.
Where there's a will, there's a way. There's help. It's a continuing fight...and it's worth it.
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