Exercise Your Right to Walk after Stroke by Doing Exercise on Your Arms

Nerves in the Arms Improve Functionality of Legs

Rehabilitation can be Started Once the Patient becomes Stable

We take many things in life for granted such as our existence, our parents, friends, talents, skills, knowledge and even our ability to walk, talk and move. It doesn’t dawn on us that we are blessed to live with such great abilities amongst those who suffer from polio, vision loss, autism and more. All the more, we are used to asking for more and more never satisfied with what we have or how we live. It’s not only materialistic pleasures that take the front seat here but also our position, power and happiness go for a toss when we constantly lack the satisfaction and comforts provided by this life. But suddenly our outlook towards life and other things changes either due to a great loss in the form of our beloved one or in the form of health problems such as stroke or cancer. We are all happy and gay one moment in life but within minutes after stroke the brain is abducted of its skills and talents along with the ability to walk or move your hand-few of the things that have been taken for granted until now treated as though it’s the body’s duty to function appropriately for our survival.
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Stroke happens when there is deficient blood flow to the brain due to which brain tissues are deprived of oxygen and nutrients. Stroke usually damages one side of the brain (motor fibers connected to movement is primarily affected) and affects the opposite side of the body. The individual’s balance is affected alongside muscle tone and control. Stroke can leave a person with debilitating side effects if emergency care is not provided immediately. You should be able to identify symptoms of stroke-FAST-to save a stroke-affected victim. Learn more about recognizing these symptoms in the shortest time period by visiting the website www.firsteatright.com.

Rehabilitation
Once the patient is stable enough, he/she is put onto rehabilitation programs that involve aerobic and strengthening exercises along with walking exercises that help in improving the overall health of the person. As stroke leaves one with weakened muscles the physician checks for such weaknesses that need to be resolved before moving on to exercises.

Walking involves a lot many muscles and movements that are involved in every single step that you take. Movement is the result of the brain instructing the muscles to move but once stroke attacks a person it’s the physician who moves the different muscles related to walking thereby instructing the brain to start movement. Walking, a simple chore until now has become a monumental task for the stroke-affected victim. He/she needs to master the tricks repeatedly to improve his/her mobility.

A new study has come up with a good piece of news that arm exercises can improve walking ability after months or years after suffering from a stroke. A group of researchers worked with older adults who suffered from a stroke between 7 months and 17 years prior to the study. The volunteers were part of three 30-minute, moderate-intensity arm cycling training sessions each week for 5 weeks. The research team measured the volunteers’ abilities before and after the arm exercises using measures such as: Six minute walk that measures how far a person can walk in six minutes, timed 10 meter walk that measures how quickly a person can cover 10 meters and timed up & go which measures how much time it takes to stand up from a seated position, walk 10 feet, turn around, walk back and sit down again. Results showed that:

1. Walking performance of participants improved significantly as much as by 28% in the Timed Up and Go Test
2. While there was no change in grip strength many volunteers had less tightness in the muscle after completing the arm cycling trial
3. Arm exercises improved nerve activity and interlimb workout that improved rhythmic walking. Nerves in the arms activated and adapted to improve function of the spinal cord in other areas of the body (including the legs) affected by stroke
   
   

This clearly shows that arm exercises could be part of the rehabilitation program to improve post-stroke leg functionality and walking ability. Recovering from stroke is a mammoth process that needs lots of time and patience. But there might not be a possibility for complete recovery in walking due to damaged nerves that don’t function properly until their connections are restored.