Hemorrhagic stroke: Bleed in the brain or brainstem.  These two are the two types of hemorrhagic (bleed) stroke:  1. Intracerebral hemorrhage: In the "meat" of the brain (cerebrum) . 2. Subarachnoid hemorrhage: Between the brain and the meninges (meninges, the layers of "brain wrap" and surround the entire brain).  Approximately 25% of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage die within 24 hours, with or without medical attention.  Other disorders that involve bleeding inside the skull include epidural hematomas and subdural ..read more

Everyone knows that listening to music is good for your brain, staves off dementia and Alzheimer's, and may be beneficial for gait, the timing of upper extremity function, communication outcomes, and quality of life after stroke.  myc.com And it may help  people with aphasia recover language But the same question always comes up: What kind of music is the best?   Kinda a cool study from the great country of Finland may have answered that that question (for survivors with aphasia, at least) They had three groups: 1. Listened to music with a singer s ..read more

This is a re-post of an earlier blog entry. Still pertinent! Have a look at this cartoon. In poor taste, yes. But it manages to raise awareness and it does it in a way that is comically accurate.  Here is your quiz: Watch the vid and then do this: Just below the cartoon, highlight the invisible text by left clicking and dragging to the bottom of the post. Therein lies my observation of what the cartoon gets right. If you'd like me to add anything I've missed, put it in the comments or email me. Highlight text below↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ 1. Drop foot  2. Inability to clear ..read more

Yeah, he mentions m'book, but really he's just a testament to the fact that its not about a book, its about the survivor ..read more

Hi Survivors (and caregivers, clinicians and clinical students:)! An OT friend and I recently launched a "radio show" (the kids call it a podcast:).  Its all about stroke/brain injury recovery. Below are link to some episodes you may find helpful... Stop Falling! Mirror Therapy Learned Non-use What  Does  Work  What Doesn't Work Sensation Recovery Measuring Recovery Neuroplastic Beats Spastic Constraint Induced Therapy Subluxation and Shoulder Pain How Repetition Rules Recovery Bilateral Training for the Arm, and Leg Super Survivor Kathy Spencer On ..read more

Below is an article I wrote in a PT trade magazine years ago. It describes, theoretically at least, how to get sensation back after stroke. Turns out, nothing new under the sun. Getting back sensation is the same as getting back movement. Repeated attempts at feeling drives the brain to be better at feeling.  There are 2 ways of retraining feeling: active and passive. Passive seems to be more for tactile stuff, active is more for proprioception (the feel of movement). But movement and sensation double back on each other. Movement affects sensation because if you can't move the brai ..read more

The perfect stroke survivor would be male. Outcomes are better for males. Depression hits men less after stroke, and they tend to be both younger and in better shape prior to the stroke. The perfect stroke survivor would be well educated. Folks who are well-educated get more recovery than the less educated. The perfect stroke survivor would have significant economic resources. The well-off recover more than then moderate or low income folks. The perfect stroke survivor would be African-American. African-Americans recover more than Caucasians and/or Puerto Ricans. So, Who would be ..read more

I've don a ton of talks to rehab clinicians. Sometimes I get a simple but perplexing question... When treating a stroke survivor where do I start? It's a simple but perplexing question. When I meet a survivor, the first thing I check out is the hemi-side hand. The hand tells you a ton:  Is spasticity an issue? If it is, spasticity will show up in spades in the hand. All those little joints, and those little muscles pulling those little appendages. And the massive strength difference between the muscles that close the hand ag ..read more

1. Fault: survivors, caregivers. Most stroke survivors don't get to the hospital nearly soon enough. A lot of stroke survivors, as they are having the stroke, feel overwhelmed with  fatigue-- so they go to sleep. And this delays getting to the hospital. Many other symptoms of stroke are either ignored, or passed off as completely separate issues. 2. Fault: MDs. Once in the hospital stroke is often misdiagnosed. For instance: I cannot tell you how many young survivors have told me that-- once they got to the hospital-- all anyone asked them about was their drug use. Over and over ..read more

 https://nogginsandneurons.podbean.com/e/stop-falling/ ✨Find the website with all the episodes here. Find all episodes on your fav podcast provider:  ✨Google Podcasts      ✨iTunes     ✨Spotify ..read more