Activities of Daily Living After Stroke: How to Regain Your Independence

The activities of daily living are the basics of self-care:  tasks oriented towards taking care of one’s own body and enabling basic survival and well-being. They include nine activities: eating/swallowing, feeding (setting up and bringing the food to your mouth), bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, personal device care (using/maintaining personal care items), functional mobility, and sexual activity. After a stroke, patients may struggle with the activities of daily living, which indicates a critical need for rehabilitation to boost independence. This independence is the ultimate goal that your therapists — and especially your occupational therapist — is there to help you with. Is it Possible...

Does Magnesium Oil for Stroke Recovery Actually Work? Here’s the Science

Buzz is growing around the use of magnesium oil for stroke recovery. Does it carry potential for boosting recovery? Or is this just a fad with no supporting evidence? You’re about to find out. The Connection Between Magnesium and Stroke Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body. [NCBI] It’s responsible for a host of different functions like blood pressure, insulin metabolism, muscular contraction, nerve transmission, and neuromuscular conduction. Magnesium’s role in neuromuscular function is likely the reason for its growing popularity in the treatment of neurological disorders like stroke. A stroke occurs when the supply of blood in the brain is compromised by either a blocked...

Magnetic Therapy for Stroke Patients: What Does the Science Say?

Magnetic therapy for stroke patients can improve paralysis associated after stroke, according to new research. It does this by triggering the brain’s natural healing mechanism: neuroplasticity. To help you decide whether this experimental treatment is right for you, this article will explain the benefits of magnetic therapy and how it may help with stroke recovery. What is Magnetic Therapy? Magnetic therapy, also known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive treatment in which doctors place magnetic coils on the patient’s scalp. From these coils, short electromagnetic pulses are delivered to specific brain areas. Although these pulses are nearly impossible to detect,...

How to Use Mindfulness to Promote Healing and Happiness After Stroke

Mindfulness during stroke rehabilitation can lead to big gains. Although it may be overlooked and underrated, mindfulness is a great way to promote both healing and happiness after stroke. Since more happiness could motivate more action, this is an avenue worthy of attention. Let’s dig into how mindfulness can benefit recovery after a stroke. How to Boost Healing After a Stroke Of course, we can’t start talking about stroke recovery without first discussing neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the process the brain uses to create and strengthen neural pathways. This process illustrates how the brain can adapt and heal after a stroke. The process of neuroplasticity is based on learning...

25 Stroke Recovery Tips for Healing, Habits, and Happiness

At Flint Rehab, we believe that stroke recovery tips should address both your physical health and your lifestyle, as both impact recovery. Physical Healing Stroke Recovery Tips First up, we’ll share some tips on the technical side of stroke recovery. These tips will address the physical side of recovery: overcoming the secondary effects and regaining independence. Let’s start at the beginning: 1. Understand How the Brain Heals Did you know that the brain is capable of healing itself after an injury like a stroke? It revolves around the phenomenon of neuroplasticity: the mechanism that your brain uses to rewire itself and create new neural pathways. Neuroplasticity is arguably the most important...