Rehabilitation after Stroke Occupational Therapy improves strength, endurance, and arm function
Rehabilitation after Stroke Occupational Therapy improves strength, endurance, and arm function
Occupational Therapy was the key component of Britta’s recovery from stroke. Occupational therapists focused on helping to restore hand and arm function, using range of motion exercises, games, handwriting and deep tissue massage, along with electrical stimulation.
Content
3.87 -> On June thirteenth of 2013 I had an AVM
11.24 -> fistula stroke and had a bunch of grand
18.72 -> mal seizures that was the indication so
21.21 -> they rushed me to the local hospital and
24.41 -> they for a couple of days there they
27.36 -> realized they couldn't handle it and
28.739 -> sent me to New York Presbyterian. When I
31.8 -> was released from New York Presbyterian
33.42 -> I came right to Helen Hayes impatient
37.289 -> for seven weeks. And the occupational
39.359 -> therapy focuses mainly on my arm so you
44.429 -> know from my shoulder down to my hand
48.21 -> In the first four months I had absolutely
51.659 -> no response. All of a sudden I started to
55.679 -> get a little bit at a time working. So it
59.329 -> started with my hand and I could move my
62.489 -> hand just a little bit, and then I could
64.379 -> move my hand a little bit more, and then
65.88 -> I could move my wrist and so you know
70.07 -> occupational therapy we did, we focused
73.71 -> on range of motion exercises at first
76.11 -> almost exclusively. And now that I have
79.98 -> some motion back we're focusing on
81.96 -> strength and endurance exercises. And
85.19 -> actually in occupational therapy we get
88.47 -> to do a lot of play a lot of games so
91.71 -> there are beads where it's like you know
95.46 -> take this bead and put it over this wire
97.89 -> and bring it up and bring it over there
99.93 -> or pegs in a pegboard so pick up these
103.95 -> pegs and put them into the pegboard you
106.95 -> know which is extremely awkward but
110.07 -> their child's toys they're on take these
112.77 -> blocks and see how many you can pick up
115.77 -> and put over a wall for you know for
121.59 -> lack of a better term wall and put it on
125.01 -> the other side in one minute. And I could
128.489 -> only do five of them the first time and
131.19 -> then the next time I could do 11 and
133.62 -> then
134.38 -> the next time they measured it i can do
136.42 -> 14 and the last time i think i did 21 so
140.01 -> so a lot of it is games. Just yesterday
143.71 -> in occupational therapy they had me
146.28 -> playing video games, they had me typing
151.03 -> on a keyboard with my right hand which I
153.76 -> tried for the first time and I was
155.41 -> surprisingly good you know, not as bad as
158.38 -> I thought I'd be. My occupational
160.3 -> therapist Eileen is a genius. Really once
165.22 -> i really had lost hope at one point and
170.76 -> Eileen kind of put her hands on my arm
174.94 -> and gave me a couple of exercises to do
177.49 -> and it seemed like two weeks later my
180.07 -> arm started to wake up so, and I've been
184.15 -> working with Eileen since then so for a
188.2 -> year now I've been working with Eileen
190.81 -> and I think that I've made great strides
195.63 -> with my arm and I credit her with all
200.74 -> of that. Before we get started she'll
205.36 -> often loosen up and massage my shoulder
208.65 -> which is, believe me not as pleasant as
211.69 -> it sounds, because she you know digs in
214.03 -> really deep to loosen up that deep
217.06 -> tissue and I'm like Eowww! {pain}
220.15 -> You call this a massage so but she
224.14 -> says what I have to do to break that up
225.85 -> you know so we can we can work the
228.34 -> shoulder because we can't work the
229.69 -> shoulder if it's totally stiff. Eileen
234.3 -> used some stim (Electrical Stimulation) with me so there's a tiny
239.2 -> portable stim that you can get, I think
244.66 -> my insurance covered it, so she taught me
248.709 -> how to use that here and then we can do
251.83 -> that at home so you can place that at
254.59 -> various spots all up and down your arm
257.08 -> in the back of your shoulder so that's
260.109 -> something that we did. So she's teaching
263.11 -> me how to write with my right hand again
264.64 -> which is not going so well.if
266.26 -> someone approached me tomorrow
268.33 -> and said I have need for therapy
273.099 -> you know for a therapy whether it's for
277.629 -> the smallest thing or for a full-blown
284.189 -> stroke, neurological disorder, you know
288.479 -> neurological recovery or orthopedic
291.039 -> recovery like I've needed I would tell
293.949 -> them go straight to Helen Hayes and
295.509 -> don't take no for an answer there's
297.909 -> really no place like it.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnV0-INuzJM