We're calling on the government to introduce a new stroke strategy. Help us reach 100,000 signatures. - England

This is the wrong way to do this. You write a stroke strategy yourself and hand it to the government to implement. You ask for results, not processes or care or guidelines.

Ask for:

1.  Repeatable neuroplasticity,

2.  Repeatable neurogenesis,

3.  Solve all of these problems in stroke

4.  Getting to fast accurate  and easy diagnosis  of stroke

We're calling on the government to introduce a new stroke strategy. Help us reach 100,000 signatures. - England

Stroke Treatment and Recovery. Are You Serious?

Everything here should be publicly available to all therapists and survivors with protocols explaining how they work and their efficacy.  That is what a great stroke association would do rather than hiding it in individual practices. Or having survivors on the do-it-yourself hunt for therapy that works.
http://www.neurorehabdirectory.com/stroke-treatment-recovery-serious/
It is true that recovering from a stroke will be an uphill battle for many, however, it is also accurate that the latest research findings regarding neuro recovery are more promising than ever before. How serious are you with embracing evidence into your practice? As a clinician, are you stuck using numerous theoretical-based treatment concepts that have not scientifically been proven to be effective?
Listed below are some of the common interventions supported by research that have shown positive results. How many of the below techniques are in your current therapy toolbox? (Who gives a shit what is in the toolbox? WHAT ARE YOUR RESULTS YOU FUCKING IDIOTS)If just a few, then why?


Arm and Hand Research Findings

• Electrical Stimulation and EMG-Triggered Stimulation can improve upper extremity function and decrease shoulder subluxation.
• Electrical Stimulation can reduce spasticity.
• Arm training using an Upper Limb Robot-Assisted Therapy Device can improve motor recovery of the shoulder and elbow.
• Exercise and cardiovascular training using equipment like an Exercise Aid or Arm Bike are beneficial for stroke patients.
• Virtual Reality/Exercise Games and Biofeedback can improve motor function.
• Visual Imagery, such as Mirror Therapy, can reduce pain, improve visual spatial neglect and reduce motor impairment.
• A Hand Function Splint can improve independence, facilitate movement, support a weakened joint and result in improved motor recovery when combined with task-specific training.
• Unweighting the arm with a Mobile Arm Support can improve motor recovery and assist with functional tasks.
• Repetitive task-specific training, such as Constraint-Induced Therapy, can improve motor function.
• Mental practice (rehearsing tasks mentally), in combination with other treatment, can improve upper extremity function.
• Botulinum Toxin (Botox) decreases spasticity and increases range of motion.
• Subluxation Slings can prevent shoulder subluxation and reduce pain.

Mobility and Leg Research Findings

• Exercise and cardiovascular training using equipment like an Exercise Aid or Leg Bike are beneficial for stroke patients.
• Electrical Stimulation and EMG-Triggered Stimulation can improve walking ability.
• Electrical Stimulation can reduce spasticity.
• Lower Limb Robot-Assisted Therapy Device can improve functional walking performance.
• A Foot Drop Brace can improve ambulation.
• A Lower Limb Contracture Splint can prevent ankle contracture.
• Virtual Reality/Exercise Games and Biofeedback may enhance gait performance.
• Balance training may be beneficial to stroke patients.
• Gait training (i.e., treadmill training) with Body Weight Support can be beneficial.
• Mental practice (rehearsing tasks mentally) can be beneficial for transfers and mobility.
• Botulinum Toxin (Botox) decreases spasticity and increases range of motion.

Vision Recovery Research Findings

• Computer-based scanning therapy, such as Visual Motor Training and Virtual Reality/Exercise Games can improve visual neglect.
• Wearing Visual Aids, like Prisms, may improve functional performance with every-day tasks. Prisms can be used to reduce the apparent visual field loss by shifting visual stimuli from the blind field into the patient’s seeing field. These prisms are fitted to glasses but need to be restricted to just one half of each of the lenses (typically on the side of the blind field).
• Visual scanning techniques can improve visual neglect with associated improvements in function.
• Compensatory training (adapting to the vision loss) can significantly improve search performance and efficiency.

Search By Product Category

Arm Bike
An Arm is a stationary cycle designed to strengthen and condition the upper body, as well as the cardiovascular system, by using the arms.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback or electromyography (EMG) is a non-invasive technique used for measuring muscle electrical activity that occurs during muscle contraction and relaxation.
Body Weight Support
Body Weight Support uses a suspension system and a harness to support a percentage of the user’s body weight during standing, walking or exercise.
Electrical Stimulation
Electrical stimulation or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is a technique used to elicit a muscle contraction using electrical impulses. Electrical current is then sent from the unit to the electrodes and delivered into the muscle causing a contraction.
EMG-Triggered Stimulation
EMG-Triggered Stimulation is based on the user’s voluntary movement, or intent to move. Electrodes, controlled by a unit, are placed on the skin over a specific area. Once the user attempts to contract his or her muscles and reaches the prescribed threshold, stimulation is triggered (delivered) to the same muscles. Various visual and auditory feedback options monitor the progress.
Exercise Aid
An Exercise Aid is a piece of equipment used during physical activity to improve strength and coordination of the body region targeted.
Foot Drop Brace
A Foot Drop Brace is a rigid or flexible support that offers dynamic or static assistance to the weakened foot so functional mobility and exercises can be possible.
Hand Function Splint
A Hand Function Splint is a rigid or flexible brace that offers dynamic or static assistance to the weakened hand so functional activities and exercises can be possible.
Leg Bike
A Leg Bike is a stationary cycle designed to strengthen and condition the lower body, as well as the cardiovascular system, by using the legs.
Lower Limb Robot-Assisted Therapy
Lower Limb Robot-Assisted Therapy consists of an electromechanical device, designed for the leg, that is used to assist users (through powered mobility) with exercise training and activities of daily living (ADL).
Mirror Therapy
In Mirror Therapy, a mirror is placed beside the unaffected limb, blocking the view of the affected limb. This creates the illusion that both limbs are functioning properly. Damaged areas of the brain’s motor cortex may improve by viewing movements of intact, functioning limbs.
Mobile Arm Support
A Mobile Arm Support (MAS) is a gravity supported mechanical device mounted on wheelchairs, tables, or base frames. A MAS is used to support the weak arm to improve motor function and strength. In addition, the device allows patients with shoulder weakness to perform self care tasks such as feeding, hygiene, grooming, and writing.
Shoulder Subluxation Sling
A Subluxation Sling is typically used on hemiparetic arms that are flaccid or exhibit minimal to no movement. They offer support, protection against injury and can prevent or reduce shoulder pain.
Upper Limb Contracture Splint
A Upper Limb Contracture Splint is a brace used to prevent or treat contractures. The goal of a contracture splint is to help keep the soft tissues (muscle and tendons) in the arm and hand stretched properly.
Upper Limb Robot-Assisted Therapy
Upper Limb Robot-Assisted Therapy consists of an electromechanical device, designed for the arm or hand, that is used to assist users (through powered mobility) with exercise training and activities of daily living (ADL).

Inside the Strange New World of DIY Brain Stimulation

Don't do this. Think of the botched execution of Eduard Delacroix in the Green Mile. I'm sure your doctor has no intention of helping your cognition this way.  You're just a stroke-addled patient who should have prevented your stroke in the first place.

Inside the Strange New World of DIY Brain Stimulation

Self-managed aphasia therapy after stroke feasible

Won't our insurance companies be happy. And Diane from Pink House on the corner is vindicated in her opinion of SLTs. And we can apply the savings from this to the supposed extra expenses of recovering from aphasia.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120628/Self-managed-aphasia-therapy-after-stroke-feasible.aspx
A pilot study carried out in stroke patients with aphasia suggests that self-managed computer therapy is feasible and practical.
"There is growing evidence to suggest that the use of aphasia software can help to improve outcomes in language domains including reading, spelling, and expressive language," write Rebecca Palmer (University of Sheffield, UK) and colleagues.
"However, to date, studies of self-administered word-finding therapy have been limited to descriptive case series with the only reported randomized controlled study for computer use with patients with aphasia focused on reading therapy."
To investigate whether a large randomized controlled trial of self-managed (intervention) versus usual (control) care for patients with aphasia would be possible, Palmer and team recruited 34 individuals to take part in a pilot study.
Overall, 13 out of 17 people assigned to usual care (communication support group attendance, normal conversation, reading and writing activities) and 15 out of 17 assigned to self-managed computer therapy (speech and language therapy delivered using a computer program for 20 minutes 3 days per week) were followed up at 5 months.
Patients in the self-managed group completed an average of 25 hours of independent practice over the 5 months.
When percentage change in naming ability at 5 months was compared with ability at baseline, there was a 19.8% between-group difference in favor of those in the intervention group over those in the control group.
The team notes that patients with more severe aphasia seemed to gain less benefit from the intervention than those with a more moderate or mild version of the condition.
"This study demonstrates that use of a self-managed treatment for word-finding practice with minimal input from a speech language therapist, and volunteer support is a feasible means of enabling continued intervention for people with aphasia after stroke," write the authors in Stroke.
"People with aphasia were able to use the computer software to practice naming words independently, which supports findings from previous case series reports in the literature."
They conclude: "This study indicates that the intervention is potentially clinically and cost-effective and that it is feasible to conduct a large randomized controlled trial to provide robust evidence for this self-managed computer treatment for aphasia."

Stroke rehab while sitting in a chair

I sit in a scandinavian recliner while watching TV or reading. I grasp the left armrest with my hemiparetic left hand and try to keep it there while I cross my legs. This ends up failing most of the time. While just sitting there I try to just relax my left arm/hand so it lays comfortably on the armrest. As you can see from the arrows in these pictures the wrist spasticity prevents the arm from laying down flat. This is obviously not a useful attempt at do-it-yourself therapy because there is no functional use that will ever be gained by succeeding at this.