Stroke or Hemiplegia

Stroke rehabilitation

Stroke is a condition where damage to certain parts of the brain occur due to disruption in blood supply and resultant destruction of brain tissues leading to minor, moderate or severe disabilities depending upon the extend and area of brain damage. The disruption in blood supply can either be due to ischemia (Ischemic stroke) or due to hemorrhage from rupture of blood vessel (Hemorrhagic stroke). In both cases, limited blood to brain tissues, leading to deprived oxygen, causes death of brain cells. Disabilities can vary from weakness of a part of body to entire functional loss to a part of body, speech impairment, visual deficits, swallowing difficulties, bowel and bladder incontinence, loss or impaired sensation and such other neurological complications. The common medical conditions due to stroke are paralysis, hemiplegia, hemiparesis, memory loss, dysphasia, dysarthria, ataxia, diplopia, vertigo etc. Loss of function can in the long run lead to muscle stiffness and muscle wasting due to disuse and joint stiffness as well. Moreover it emotionally brings down the patient. He or she becomes almost completely dependent on somebody else.

Intense rehabilitation and positive motivation is the key to recovery in moderate to severe cases post stroke. CT (Computed Tomography) of brain is the best imaging technique preferred to identify the area and extend of brain damage. MRI can also be done for further information if required. Stroke rehabilitation is one of our major specialties. We implement the traditional Kerala Ayurveda treatments and expert physiotherapy techniques, speech therapy and occupational therapy for positive results. The best results are achieved when we get the patient within 90 days of an attack of stroke. The initial three months have great role in effectively bringing back the lost functions. In fact, rehabilitation must begin in the first week after stroke itself and continued for as long as possible without break. We are not asserting that the patient will return back to normal as he was before stroke, but we insist that he or she must be able to return to normalcy as closely as possible, at least to be independent in performing his own daily necessities. It includes rolling in bed, getting up from bed to sitting, standing up, eating by oneself, dressing etc. It is possible to trigger and regenerate the damaged areas with strong rehabilitation procedures even in chronic cases. Muscle strengthening, increasing the muscle bulk, improving blood circulation, improving joint mobility and of course rigorous training to perform day to day activities are all part of rehabilitation. Management also aims at preventing the risk of recurrent stroke, properly managing other associated medical conditions (like blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, heart disease etc) and controlling the factors that might have supportively led to the present condition (cigarette smoking, stress, sleep and diet habits etc). Reviving back the lost functions as much as possible and making the patient capable of performing his daily activities is a tedious long term process. It requires strong will power and cooperation from the part of the patient as well as his family. Repetitively maintaining the mobility of all mobile parts of the body on a daily basis through physical and occupational therapies is one important step to be followed by all stroke patients. It will ease rehabilitation techniques.

MIRA (Meticulous Integrated Rehabilitation Approach)

The specialty of our management protocol is that we do not follow a common generalized treatment protocol for all stroke patients with hemiplegia or hemiparesis etc. Our protocol will vary from patient to patient depending upon their emotional condition; extend of physical disability and degree of perceptibility to our instructions. We are the first integrated rehabilitation hospital across India and probably in the world because there is no other hospital where Modern medicine is clubbed and used along with Kerala Ayurveda, Physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. We proudly proclaim that our protocols are unique and the best in the world. This is not a declaration for promotion but it is the judgment of our happy patients and their relatives from across the globe who has taken treatments from various rehabilitation centers before reaching us. Patients who have spent much time in rehabilitation centers elsewhere in Germany, Czech republic, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia etc have remarked greatly about the excellent outcome we could provide in much shorter period of time. We take up each case as a challenge and sincerely work out a practical protocol for them. We do not totally rely on machineries for physiotherapy and occupational therapy, but we insist on minimal machine procedures and maximal manual therapies since it brings out more outcome. Thinking and adjusting techniques as per the need of the patient is highly relevant. Each of us will need different types of motivation and training to learn the same technique. In chronic cases, the patients often get depressed and finalize to themselves that they are doomed to die in that condition. They do not believe that partial recovery might be possible. They often submit to rehabilitation procedures due to compulsion from relatives. Breaking this emotional barrier will be our primary step. As said before, this is in fact a challenge, to revive and bring back a positive mindset and consequently full cooperation from the part of the patient. For this, we have a separate team for Psychiatry as psychiatric support and up gradation is an inseparable component in such patients.

Our unique approach to stroke patients have produced amazing results due to which we even have visits from people of other well-known rehab centers across the world to understand and learn more about MIRA.