Friday, August 13, 2010

stroke rehabilitation during sleep

Sleep is another time that I need to constantly think about what to do to keep my stroke therapy going.
I used to have a hand/wrist splint for nighttime use that kept my fingers and wrist straight but after 3 years of use the plastic rotted and it was time to be on my own. Specifically how to reduce the spasticity in my finger flexors, biceps, pecs. If I lie on my back my left arm will crawl into my lap. So I put my
hand under my butt, except that it is a clenched hand and during movement during the
night will end up in my lap. I try to hold my left arm straight out to my side as I
fall asleep by putting a pillow on it. As I wake up during the night if I am lying on
my left side I will place the whole arm between the legs to keep the arm straight.
When I try to lie on my right side i place my left hand under my pillow under my head
and flatten out the fingers. With all the thinking and moving about during the night
there is very little restful sleep taking place. Napping during the day is even worse
because keeping the arm straight becomes impossible.
I used to sleep face down with my nose over the edge of the bed to get maximum exposure to the night air with my left arm straight down by my left side. I can't do that anymore because my left arm burrows under my body. So I now either grab one of the spindles on the headboard with my left hand or hang my left arm off the edge of the bed, this is trying to get noth my bicep and pecs to stop firing.
I now put a pillow on the floor and try to sleep face down with my left arm hanging off the bed and resting on the pillow.

This didn't come from any medical staff so ask your own medical staff for help with therapy while sleeping.
Good luck with that question.

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