How to Get More From Your Stroke Therapy

It’s well known that the better the stroke therapy, the better your recovery.

Not everyone has access to world class stroke therapy and rehabilitation programs. So if you are one of the many who doesn’t, what can you do?

How can you make sure that your stroke therapy works for you?

I’ll outline the elements that make up a good stroke therapy and what you can do if yours doesn’t have them.

Frequency 

The more often you have stroke therapy, the better your recovery. Your brain really needs daily practice at building the new skills the therapist is trying to help you with.

At the moment, most stroke therapy programs don’t offer daily appointments with each therapist.  Or, they do in the initial recovery period, but not once you’re discharged from hospital.

So, what can you do if your stroke therapy is only once, twice or three times a week?  What if you have no stroke therapy or rehabilitation program at all?

This is where it’s up to you.  Whether or not your therapist comes daily, weekly, or monthly, you need to practice the exercises they give you.

Practice at least once a day for every different stroke therapy, or skill you want to learn.  Consider this as a minimum for you to get the stroke recovery you want.

Attitude of Your Therapist 

Another thing your stroke recovery hangs on is the attitude of your therapist.  Whether it’s speech therapy, occupational therapy or physical therapy after stroke, what your therapist thinks will greatly influence your recovery.

For example, how fast does your therapist want you to recover? What sort of progress do they expect? What progress is “standard” for someone in your condition?

Your therapist will use the answer to these questions to decide what exercises to give you.  For all you know, you could be learning two skills a week instead of one.  But if the therapist only gives you exercises for one… then that’s what you'll get.

But what if you want to recover faster than that?

The good thing is your stroke recovery is not limited to what your therapist thinks.  They might have one goal for you but you can have another.  You can find a new therapist, or keep the one you’ve got and simply do more and expect more than what they say.

You can also research advancements in stroke recovery.  Then you'll know what you're missing out on and how to get it!

Your Attitude 

Really the biggest determiner of your stroke recovery is your attitude.

Are you willing to do what it takes to recover? How much do you want to recover, really?

The attitude you have about your own recovery will determine how well stroke therapy works for you.

You need to decide to do everything your therapist tells you, as often as they tell you, and more.

You also need to decide what you want to achieve, and don’t let anything, including therapists, tell you that you can’t.  One man recovered completely from his stroke and was still told by his doctor that he shouldn’t be better. 

Another woman was paralyzed down one side and lost the ability to talk.  Because she recovered completely, she had several brain scans so the doctors could see where her brain damage was.  They couldn’t find any damage but they kept trying with more scans. 

Eventually she said "No more!  The stroke isn't there anymore!"

She was the only one who thought she would recover and she did!

To recover completely don't just go as far as stroke therapy will take you.  Decide how far you want to recover, and use stroke therapy and other resources to help you do that.

Do you want more great stroke recovery tips?  Then sign up for our free eCourse, "7 days to a Better Stroke Recovery" by entering your information below.