Senior Care News

The Seven Stages of Stroke Recovery

Stroke recovery takes a significant amount of time, and you might find you’ll need the help of a post-hospital care provider along the way. Here's what you may observe.

If your loved one has experienced a stroke, it can be a very scary experience. While you are grateful they survived and are on the road to recovery, you still might be overwhelmed with what that road will look like. Hiring a post-hospital care provider will help you through the process of a successful recovery.

Stroke recovery takes a significant amount of time, and you might find you’ll need the help of a post-hospital care provider along the way in addition to physical therapists, counselors, and other family members.

Everyone’s recovery timeline is different, but they generally follow these seven stages.

Post-Hospital Care Massapequa NY - The Seven Stages of Stroke Recovery
Post-Hospital Care Massapequa NY – The Seven Stages of Stroke Recovery

Stage One – Flaccidity

During this first stage of recovering from a stroke, your loved one will not have control over her movements. The brain is still trying to connect and communicate with muscles. A post-hospital care provider can help your loved one with passive moments where your loved one will use the areas of her body not affected by the stroke to help the areas that are unable to perform on their own.

Stage Two – Spasticity Appears

During this stage, the body will start to show signs of involuntary movement such as reacting to stimuli. Your loved one should still practice plenty of passive movement to continue to help the brain rewire its connection with the body areas affected by the stroke.

Stage Three – Spasticity Increases

At this point, more random movements start to appear and while it might be frustrating to your loved one to not be able to control them, it does signal progress. Your loved one may need medications to reduce the occurrence and discomfort of these movements, especially when trying to sleep. A post-hospital care provider can help her with daily stretches to reduce their occurrence.

Stage Four – Spasticity Decreases

At this stage, you and your loved one will start to celebrate as she begins to have some control over her movements. They may not be as exact or smooth as she’d like, but her muscles are beginning to listen to what the brain is directing them to do so it’s a huge step in your loved one’s recovery.

Stage Five – Return of Complex Movement

During this stage, those jerky, tentative movements become smoother. Your loved one may find she can now hold a cup or grip a comb, so she’ll be able to begin doing some things around the home that she hasn’t been able to do for a while. It’ll be important to work with your post-hospital care provider so that they will know what your loved one can now do and what she still needs help with.

Stage Six – Spasticity Disappears

At this point, your loved one is ready to begin rebuilding her strength and endurance. She will be able to do many things she couldn’t before, but it’ll take time to rebuild those muscles. Slow but steady increases in activity will help her get to Stage Seven.

Stage Seven – Return to Normal

At this point, continuing to help your loved one create a healthy lifestyle that will prevent or reduce the risk of future strokes will be your goal. That, and celebrating how far your loved one has come!

If you or a family member need to hire Post-Hospital Care Services in Massapequa  NY or the surrounding areas, contact the caring professionals at Star Multi Care Services today at (631)956-8835. We are the Right Choice for Home Health Care Services!

Stephen Sternbach

Recent Posts

Categories

Contact Us About Home Care

Skip to content