Physical therapy can help after a stroke in Grand Rapids, MI

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), more than 700,000 Americans have a stroke every year. If you or someone you know has recently had a stroke, you may be wondering where you can find recovery help in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Physical therapy is an option that can help with your recovery from this neurological condition. It’s even available right here in town. Also, there are two benefits to using physical therapy as part of your recovery after a stroke. 

1.   Maintains muscle strength

People who have strokes often have trouble moving an arm or leg on one side of their body. This inability to move can decrease blood flow in the affected limb, and it can also cause the muscles to become weak. However, post-stroke physical therapy can help restore blood flow and maintain muscle strength even if you can’t move the limb on your own. 

This is possible thanks to a therapy technique called passive exercise. The technique is passive because the therapist will be the one moving the immobile limb for you, but the movement still works the muscles. Also, the therapist may show you how to do passive exercise using your other limb. For example, they might have you use your right hand to assist your left arm with unweighted arm curls. 

2.   Encourages brain plasticity

Strokes can cause lots of damage to the nervous system, and it’s this damage that can lead to impaired movement. To help counteract nervous system-based impairments, physical therapy after a stroke is designed to encourage brain plasticity. 

Brain plasticity is the ability that your brain has to change and adapt as a result of experience. However, this ability fights with a concept called learned non-use in stroke patients. Learned non-use refers to the tendency stroke patients have to avoid using their impaired body parts. Unfortunately, this lack of use doesn’t give nerves the chance to rehabilitate. By using passive exercise and other therapy techniques, physical therapists can help get your impaired body structures moving again. In turn, this helps the brain increase its plasticity, which can help improve your ability to move. 

Find out other ways post-stroke physical therapy could benefit you at Advent Physical Therapy

Advent Physical Therapy has a clinic located in Grand Rapids, and our team here includes therapists that are specially trained to help with stroke recovery. Your recovery program will kick off with a free screening. This will give our therapist the chance to review your medical history and determine how the stroke affected your body. With this information in hand, they will then build you a personalized recovery program that may include the following techniques: 

• Balance training
• Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) therapy
• Manual therapy

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment to take the next step in your recovery process.