Exercises For Stroke Patients: Easy Routines To Recover Quickly

A stroke is an untimely obstruction in the supply of blood in the brain. when this happens, the brain cells start to die and eventually lead to impaired speech or movements. Stroke patients usually have a hard time recovering because they do not exert effort in restoring their strength. Doctors highly believe that exercises for stroke patients can significantly help them recover quickly. If you are looking for exercise equipment for a stroke survivor, get it at BuyDumbells.com.au.

Brief Background About Stroke

There are three different kinds of stroke. First is the ischemic stroke which is the most common type and covers at least 87% rate of overall stroke occurrences. This happens when the artery where the blood flows to supply oxygen to the brain gets clogged.

The second one is a hemorrhagic stroke. In this instance, the artery is not blocked but rather breaks open causing a blood leak that puts too much pressure on the brain cells.

Lastly, the TIA or transient ischemic attack. This type of stroke is not as major as the other two. However, it is an important indicator that a major attack is about to happen. It may not seem like a health condition that needs immediate medical attention, but it is important for the patient to be examined by a doctor right away.

The stroke recovery period differs. Some patients can fully recover in a week, others need at least a month, and severe cases could last for years.

Basic Recovery Exercises for Stroke Patients

Even though the stroke recovery period varies from one patient to another, there is no doubt that recovery exercises can remarkably improve their motor and speech skills. Initially, the patient will be assisted by professional healthcare workers to perform certain exercises to improve their condition.

Physical and occupational therapy plays a vital role in the recovery period. Both of these can essentially encourage a patient to keep practising his or her movements. The downside often comes after the patient is discharged. This is when they start losing interest in exercises and just let things be.

Stroke patients would be more motivated to exercise if the people around them are supportive and helpful. To give you an idea, here are some of the most effective exercises for stroke patients:

• Extending Knees. To start, sit on a chair and keep your back straight if possible. Slowly extend your one leg until it’s parallel to the floor, pause briefly and go back to the starting position, repeat on the other leg with a total of 20 reps.
• Marching exercise. Let the patient sit on a chair. Help them lift each of their legs simultaneously, make sure that their knees will at least reach their chest. Place the feet back on the floor and repeat the same process on the other leg.
• Trunk twists. For this particular exercise, the patient will also start in a sitting position. Place the patient’s arm on their thigh and guide them as they twist their torso to the left and right. Do this exercise 15 times.
• Lying down knee to chest. Put the patient in a lying down position. Gently bring the right leg into the chest, squeeze and put the leg back down. Repeat with the left leg and make sure to tell the patient to engage their core.
• Toe tap. This exercise needs extra precaution. In a lying-down position, lift the right leg up and bend the knee at a 90-degree angle. Bring the leg down by toe-tapping the surface and simultaneously doing the same thing with the other leg.
• Table surface exercises. Sit in a chair facing a table. Place a small bottle with water on top of it and let the patient hold it firmly with both hands. Make big circular slow movements on top of the table. Repeat 10 times.
• No weights bicep curls. Put both arms on the table. Bend one elbow at 90 degrees squeezing the biceps. This is an important stroke recovery exercise as it engages both the biceps and triceps.
• Open arm exercises. To start, hold a small bottle with water using the stroke-affected arm. Keep the elbows in contact with the sides and open the arms going outward. Move the arms back to the center and repeat. One could use a cable machine to do the exact same exercise.
• Weight-bearing lean. Shoulder exercises are important recovery training as well. For this exercise, sit on the edge of a sofa or bed, using the stroke-affected arm, extend your arm to the side pushing the cushion and engage your shoulders. Repeat if the exercise is comfortable for you.
• Table surface pushing exercises. Stroke patients who have affected shoulders and arms will benefit from this exercise. Sit on a chair facing a table. Put a bottle in the middle and ask the patient to push it with their fist. Repeat 5 times.
• Wrist bending. When patients experience a stroke, usually the effect reaches even the smallest boy parts. For this exercise, simply rotate the wrist back and forth in a slow manner.

• Bottle grasping exercises. For this one, ask the patient to place their arm on the table (palm facing upward) and hold a bottle, gently squeeze the bottle, pause, and repeat.
• Lying down hip rotation. In a lying down position, raise the knees upward to make a 90-degree bend. Let the knees fall from side to side while engaging the core and hips.

Being a stroke patient is a combination of many emotions. Most of the time, stroke patients are demotivated to perform exercise because of the lack of support from family. The best thing we could do is to support them by helping them in doing their routines.