Stroke Recovery Awareness

If you you think someone may be experiencing a stroke, remember the acronym BEFAST. It may help save their life.

This May is National Stroke Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about stroke and the life‑saving importance of early action. A stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted, leading to brain cells starting to die in just a few minutes. Prompt medical attention can greatly lower the chances of experiencing lasting disability.

If you think someone may be experiencing a stroke, remember the acronym BEFAST. Balance loss, Eye changes, Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call 911. Recognizing the warning signs and calling 911 immediately can be the difference between a strong recovery and long-term disability.

Stroke Symptoms

Stroke symptoms aren’t always just physical; they can also be mental or emotional. While everyone will have a different experience in recovery, here are some common symptoms:

• Weakness in the body
• Paralysis
• Coordination issues
• Pain sensations
• Numbness
• Trouble swallowing
• Urinary incontinence
• Fatigue
• Aphasia
• Cognitive struggles
• Bodily inattention
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Mood swings

What’s Typically Included in Stroke Recovery?

Stroke recovery takes many forms, and there are a variety of different activities that can help. Regardless of which activities you do, the focus will be on repetition. Practicing the same actions over and over again. This will help rebuild strength and coordination in the affected areas of your body. Rehab activities may include:

Motor-skill exercises – these help improve muscle strength and coordination. They may include muscles used for balance, walking, and swallowing.

Mobility training – this includes learning how to use a mobility aid properly. Aids such as walkers, canes, wheelchairs, or ankle braces. The ankle brace will help stabilize your ankle and help support your body’s weight as you relearn how to walk.

Constraint-induced therapy – for this, an unaffected limb is restrained while you practice moving an affected limb to help improve its function. This is also known as forced-use therapy.

Range-of-motion therapy – these exercises and treatments help ease muscle tension and help you regain range of motion.

Local Resources

Oklahoma City Rehabilitation Hospital – they help patients with a primary diagnosis of stroke, subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhage, or similar diagnoses demonstrating residual weakness, spasticity, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing foods or liquids with lack of coordination of movements).

Integris Health – They offer specialized care to help individuals recover and regain as much independence as possible after a stroke. The stroke rehabilitation program is CARF-accredited, meaning it meets top-quality standards.

Rebuild After Stroke – Offers a list of stroke support groups in Oklahoma that offer in-person and virtual meetings to help navigate recovery.

Griswold Can Help with Stroke Recovery

Stroke recovery doesn’t end at the hospital. Healing continues at home, and no one should have to go through it alone. During Stroke Awareness Month, we’re recognizing the strength of survivors and the families who support them every day. At Griswold Home Care for Oklahoma City North, our non-medical caregivers can help make recovery at home safer, more comfortable, and less overwhelming by providing companionship, emotional support, help with daily routines, personal care, meal preparation, light housekeeping, medication reminders, and more.

Our Caregivers can provide respite care, if you need a short break, all the way up to 24-hour home care, for those who need support throughout the day and night. We provide home care services throughout North Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills, The Village, and the surrounding areas. Give us a call today to learn more about how we can best help you. We can put together a personalized care plan and often have a Caregiver to your home within 24 hours.