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Spasticity and muscle pain or uncontrollable movements of the limbs, arms and muscles is a common effect following a stroke. There are various treatment choices available to patients who engage in rehabilitations. Spasticity typically results from an injury to the patient’s brain that prevents them from tightening and relaxing their muscles properly.

This condition specifically is one of the more challenging side-effects for stroke patients to overcome. It is also one side-effect of strokes that modern science has created new and innovated rehabilitative treatments for, to improve the quality of life of patients following a stroke. Examples of this condition may include the inability to unclench one’s hand, or someone experiencing abnormal postures or difficulty walking because their legs tighten and cross one another or spasm. With time, this condition may cause pain because the muscles are in constant motion.

Traditionally, many doctors offer patients oral medications that help relax the muscles so pain becomes less of a problem in stroke survivors. Examples may include Zanaflex or Diazapam. The problem with these medications is for many patients they often bring on lethargy or fatigue. With time in some patients these side effects may dissipateiv. Doctors often use these medications to treat generalized spasticity, where multiple muscles in the body are affected. For some patients, they will experience more localized spasticity, meaning a tightening of the muscles in specific areas of the body, as in the limbs. There are new treatments available that can help reduce this problem in patients.

Many doctors, for example, now prescribe Botox for patients who experience spasticity in small, localized areas. A doctor may inject this substance into the muscle offering relief for extended periods of time, though this practice is not widely accepted yet as a “traditional” treatment alternative for stroke patients. Still, new treatments like this are often offered to patients with other conditions including migraines.

One of the reasons Botox helps is because it acts to relax the muscles in the area surrounding the injection sight. This can lead to reduced spasticity. ITB Therapy Other treatment choices for patients with generalized muscle tightening include a treatment called ITB therapy (short for intrathecal baclofen therapy). Using this treatment, a doctor implants a pump under a survivor’s skin connected to an area surrounding the patient’s spinal cord. This pump allows delivery of continuous medication to the patient’s body, thus relieving muscle tightening in larger areas for extended periods of time. Many doctors see dramatic results using this treatment.

The best part about this treatment is the doctor or patient can control the amount of medication needed and the time the medication is delivered in the system to achieve optimal results. Baclofen isn’t a new medication in itself. Many doctors prescribe this medication to stroke patients orally. The benefits of using a pump to deliver medication include reduced sedation and less need for high dosing. Patients using ITB therapy generally experience better results using less medication.

Rehabilitation For Communication
Another debilitating side-effect of a stroke is the impact it has on one’s ability to communicate well. Many times a patient experiencing a stroke is unable to communicate because they have difficulty finding the right words to use to express their thoughts.

Their brains may also have some difficulty interpreting information, leading to confusion and frustration. Fortunately, there are treatments that also improve the quality of life for stroke patients by helping patients recover much of their ability to communicate with others and understand others with relative ease. Many times the most difficult problem for a patient to face is knowing what they need to say but not being able to tap into the areas of the brain that hold the right information or “words” they need to express their thoughts. Some physician’s refer to this trouble as a language problem, while other patients have articulation problems.

These doctors more commonly refer to it as “motor” problems, where a patient can access the words they want to say, but have difficulty speaking clearly. Most doctors begin speech and language rehabilitation very shortly following a stroke, so a patient has the ability to regain some control over their life and their communication immediately. This often is among the primary concerns of patients, and can lead to better communication and understanding between the survivor and caregiver in the months and weeks to follow. For some patients improvement in language and communication develops slowly, while others realize much quicker recovery.

Remember, every patient is different as is every patient’s experience of a stroke. One of the goals of language and speech therapy is to establish goals with the patient that are realistic, so a patient can know what to expect two, six, twelve months down the road and beyond. Some patients may experience gradual improvements over a matter of years. The good news is most patients will also experience some recovery in the first few weeks and months following rehabilitation.

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To your good health,
Joe
www.allaboutstrokes.com

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