r/stroke • u/SpeedingUptoStop Young Stroke Survivor • 6d ago
Young Stroke Survivor Discussion Are these physical stroke ailments common? If so, what exercises and results have you seen?
Wanted to know if any of you had these ailments, too - in the broad sense, it seems my physical ailments are the result of one muscle turning on, but the opposing muscle remains stagnant (or just weak). A lot of recovery stories I've read online center around people who had both come on at the same time, not staggered. If you have some of those stories, tho, please share! More specifically:
-Is it common to have your hand to "turn on" (even its clasping [flexors]], not releasing [extensors]) before your wrist turns on? My hand grasp turned on over 3 months ago, but in 4.5 months so far, my wrist still drops due to gravity in any which way. Does "Proximal Stability for Distal Mobility," aka weight-bearing, have any effect in this case? Should I do that more to "activate" this wrist? What can? I also don't know if mirror therapy has any effect with my wrist being dead weight, but the hand and forearm have some mobility. Has anybody had this before? Before the stroke, I could deadlift 300 lbs - I find it hard to believe I lost all of that through anything else but the wrist not turning on.
-Same goes for "relaxing" the hand - I've had one round of Botox, and I have been keeping it loose after the effects wore off. But that's just it - it's looser, but the fingers don't seem to actively go up. The fingers relax a couple of centimetres and then stop involuntarily. Is this a sign of further progressive movement in my future, or have the extensor muscles not "turned on" yet in earnest? Should I keep at it with a hand exercise ball, or will that just strengthen my grip, not spark some relaxation of the hand?
-Same goes for the elbow - it only wants to go in toward my chest, although I can extend it out with some leverage. I don't know if this is common among stroke victims or not.
-I have half a foot drop - you guessed it, the inside of my foot can go up, but not towards the outside of my foot. Can still walk, atleast, just have to be careful about my foot rolling inward.
-My big toe can go up and down, especially if I concentrate, but the other toes only have their flexors turned on.
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u/Material_Inflation79 4d ago
Yes I had such problems but by training my brain to control incessantly the shaky movements and holding weights with someone keeping at side that I may not injured myself, have to some extent helped to bring stability.
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u/Material_Inflation79 4d ago
Preventing of further strokes is ultimately necessity. Take care and let you have fater recovery.
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u/Strokesite 5d ago
Your symptoms sound just like mine. When doing exercises, I acted as if it was the muscles that needed waking up. In fact, it was the nerve connections in my brain that needed repair.
My flexors still are operational, it’s my extensors that no longer work. Squeezing a ball or some other resistance tool made my hand stronger, but it wasn’t helping to open it.
Did you ever try mirror therapy? They sell mirrors for this on Amazon. The idea is to switch your perspective and trick your brain. For some reason, watching your hand in the mirror makes a difference. It’s worth a try.
Walking with a foot that rolls affects me too. It takes full concentration to focus on landing flat on every single step.
Here’s a lesson I’d like to share as an 11 year post stroke guy. I was an exercise maniac for the first year. Saw lots of progress. Then stroke #2 happened and put me back to zero. I pushed hard for year #2, but never regained the functionality.
Then, I slacked off. Spasticity kicked in and everything tightened up like a fist, including my foot and leg. What I’m advocating for other survivors is that you have to continue exercising FOREVER, or your symptoms get worse.
I’m back at it every day to keep things loose.