Your OT and PT probably rattle off muscle names assuming that you know exactly what they are talking about. Of course you know that your calf muscle is triceps surae and is a pair of muscles located at the calf. The gastrocnemius and the soleus. The muscle you can't control that causes dropfoot is your Tibialis anterior muscle , otherwise known as lack of dorsiflexion. I could keep going but the point here is that having an understanding of what muscles are problematic is needed in order to mentally imagine and neuroplastically move control to a new area. The best book I found for this is Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain This one came recommended from my OT. It helps me visualize what muscles are being used for what movements and has some excellent diagrams. Bodybuilding books would be a good second choice and available at all libraries.
If we ever get to a damage diagnosis where our doctors specify exactly what sections of the brain are damaged then our therapists could use that diagnosis along with anatomy diagrams to show you exactly what you need to work on. Either easy neuroplasticity, from the penumbra or the draining bleed area, or hard neuroplasticity, moving dead brain function control to another location. And if you are lucky and smart enough you won't canabalize your executive control to get back motor movement.
You phrase "canabalize your executive control" hits a nerve. It is humorous and unnerving all at the same time Dean!
ReplyDeleteI am working on executive function and movement the best I can. My brain map might be very confused by time I am done. lol
Linda
I asked this question of my last neurologist and he just started throwing big words at me to cover for the fact he had no clue what I was talking about. It actually is a very serious question. How many survivors go insane because in order to recover dead brain functions they overlaid executive functions? Someday I'll get to ask this of the presidents of the ASA and NSA. As you can tell from my MRI I have a huge area to recreate and hopefully I am smart enough not to pull the rug out from under myself as I rearrange the furniture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, especially the book recommendation. I read continuously, but I appreciate having reference books to look up answers and, specifically, exercises to strengthen a particular muscle. I've searched for a body-building book online, but have not found one that looks good - they have nutrition, etc., as a focus rather than exercises to strengthen particular muscles, which is what I have wanted because I just spent the last three months doing the exercises my PT gave me during my last session, just before my insurance coverage ran out. I start again this week, though, because it's a new calendar year and the sessions can start again.
ReplyDeleteDoctors who treat stroke patient have different levels of giving you words about your condition and it is dependent upon their field of specialization (Neurologist, Cardiologist, Physiatrist, rehabilitation professionals etc). The bottomline is every specialization is important to your recovery. And the best part towards attainment of highest functional recovery or less residual deficit is full participation to stroke rehabilitation. You will see how rewarding it is in the future :)
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