Basic Stroke Rehab Principles – How to drive Neuroplasticity EVERYONE recovering from a stroke should understand these principles, and incorporate them into their rehab plan.  These are the basics of “re-wiring” your brain, or driving neuroplasticity.  (read my article, “What is Neuroplasticity?” for more info on that) 1.  Use it or Lose it – any attempt to use the […]

More Than Your Body I believe in striving for physical health, but also for emotional and spiritual health.  I recently read a book called “Still Here”  by Ram Dass,  who gives an interesting perspective on life after a stroke.   If you have lived most of your life in a western spiritual mindset (traditional christianity) […]

Is Your Stroke Recovery Slowing Down? Why does progress seem to plateau after a few months? By now I’m sure you know that the loss of strength and function after a stroke primarily results from the death of nerve cells.  But there are also many nerve cells around that area of the stroke that were […]

Stroke Support Groups If you are recovering from a stroke, or if you are helping a loved one recover from a stroke, you might benefit from friends who are going through the same experience.  No matter where we are in life, and no matter what struggles we are facing, life is just a little easier […]

The Elephant in the Room I had a patient not long ago who was almost as frustrated with her husband as she was with her inability to walk after her recent stroke.  And it wasn’t for the usual reasons: leaving the toilet seat up, snoring, or forgetting their anniversary…again.  She told me that she KNEW […]

Recovery of function is possible long after a! A friend emailed me this journal article, and I wanted to share it with you who are recovering from a stroke, or helping somebody else recover from a stroke.  I thought you might find it inspiring to know that a group of researchers analyzed the results of […]

Gene’s Story of Stroke Recovery Sometimes the only thing that can motivate us when we are going through the biggest trial of our life (such as recovering from a stroke), is to know that others have been in the same hole we’ve somehow fallen into, and have climbed out.  That’s why I asked Gene to […]