Arm recovery-- occupational therapy

[socialwork555]

My arm is finally starting to get better, a little at a time. I feel silly using a special fork to pick up mashed potatoes, and only get half of them into my mouth. I'm very happy that I have learned to grasp handles, and turn handles, even if it's not exactly smooth. I'm approaching three months, and honestly I just wasn't prepared for how long this was going to take. A lot of things happened at once, I am glad to say, because I was starting to get really anxious.

 

One of the issues that I have is that I have a lot of tone, and my arm bends up when I go out, but it doesn't do this when I'm at home. I'm trying my best to blend in, and I am really insecure about this. I wonder when this goes away.

 

My hand turns into a fist when I want it to, but I can't straighten it out. So this makes the task of grasp and release difficult. But it's still getting better. I have to wonder why it takes so long! Since I started the new tasks I have learned that I can do, I am really tired. I want to know if any of you went through this.

 

How did arm recovery go for you?

[lharrison]

hi social work, yes the hand and the arm is usually the last to come as my physiotherapist told me that is because there is alot of fine motor muscles skill is in volved to open your had in order to grasp and with your legs of coarse it learned very quickly to learn to bearweight and your arm does none of the above so it is perfectly normal to have the hand and arm and fingers to come last so what i am tring to do to incorporate shoulder and arm movement is that when i go for a walkl and i go for a walk every day twice a day but as i walk i try to keep my arm active by swinging my arms as i walk i find that it is good for balance and good for losing the tone and what i have been using is a digi flex for my fingers but i use a very light weight spring and it does seem to help me lots but don"t dispare as it does take longer but ityou can incorporate your arms when you do something

[fking]

Well, I'm glad for you the hand and arm is getting better. Mine was at one point but now I think I lost it again. You heard the saying, "Use it or loose it." So keep using yours daily any way you can. You are better than me and I'm going on 8 years now! That's how my arm recovery came and went. It takes continued therapy and OT yearly! :big_grin:

[linda6363]

i am so frustrated my hand came back 99 percent but then i broke my arm and wrist.....i am back at square one and the sensation is like my hand is numb again. i just keep trying to use it as much as possible but typing is a nightmare....it tremmers.

[mcdube]

Hi Christine. After 27 years, I still don`t have the use of my arm/hand though its not as heavy as it was at the beginning of my recovery. I also have noticed that when I walk my arm doesn`t tone up and curl almost to my chin (exageration here)I hated when it did that. I used to joke and say I was one of Gerry`s kids. Not very funny but I was very self conscient about that. I am glad it is better but it did take years. Best advice, continue OT as long as you can and keep using it and eventually you will get it back. Good luck

 

mc

[ksmith]

it came back gradually. its still not as strong as once was, since that was my dominate side. I still have a hard time holding on to utensils. My father made a special handle for my grandmother before she passed and I have the same thing, They have a thick handle so I can hold it. Going out I have to hold my fork as if I'm eating barbaric, But that is the only way it works. I gave up trying to impress others with how i can eat and move. I look at what i can do now. I have started to read a book on self esteem and confidence one needs after trauma. Some of the things don't apply to my case but I have learned meditating exercises and I've always said to myself " I'm a Diva no matter what"I carry my head high and don't care what others think

[linda6363]

i have to remind myself to put my arm down...if i dont pay attention it comes up like a broken wing.

[rbm]

I was reading on the Internet last night and it take lonjger for your arm and hand to get better because they don't get as much use as ones legs. Made since to me.

[ksmith]

 

I think reading things in books and online is wonderful it still doesn't say with certain this is how one should be, Like I said before I swore I was contracting every known illness from reading WebMD. On the average somethings may develop in a certain fashion, Just keep working on what your doing and prove us all wrong

 

[Gavin]

I remember that stage of my recovery. I was very excited about it, really gave me a sense of hope. It took about 3 months for me to start getting use of my arm and hand back.

 

Once I started to re-gain use, I tried to do as much as I could with that arm. Opening the doors and refrigerator a lot, brushing my teeth and tying my shoes were some of the things I tried. Video games too, those helped a lot. Tone is a bit of a hassle for me, whenever I try anything that needs a lot of concentration, my arm tones up. What I do is stop, relax then continue. Works every time.

 

For your hand, just practice opening. A technique I would use is, when my hand was a fist. I would close my eyes and use my good hand to open it. But the trick was I would make myself think my bad hand was opening on it's own. It really felt like I was opening my hand, even though I wasn't. Eventually mt OT saw the muscles start to return and we went from there.

 

Cheers,

Gavin

[dreinke]

For opening your hand you could try mirror-box therapy, you don't need a box at all, mirror in the lap works just as well.

http://nnr.sagepub.com/content/23/3/209.abstract

Mirror-box therapy: Rehabilitation of hemiparesis after stroke with a mirror

Altschuler EL, Wisdom SB, Stone L, Foster C, Galasko D, Llewellyn DME, Ramachandran V

The Lancet - Vol. 353, Issue 9169, 12 June 1999, Pages 2035-2036

You can read the completet article by just signing up for the online version.

Dean

[socialwork555]

Thanks for all the ideas. It's coming back the way my therapist thinks it would, but like you said Kelly, there is no exact way that everyone gets it back. There's no particular order, and no timeline. I have this annoying thumb that kinda just gets in the way. My therapist uses a lot of kineseotape, which seems to have been helpful.

 

I will try the idea of closing my eyes and opening my hand. That seems like a good idea. I think an increase in my muscle relaxer had a big part in my tone reduction.

 

It's the little things that I am able to do that excite me. Holding my Netflix movie down while I open it. Anything useful is good.

 

I appreciate your support.

[Itzury]

I know!! The arm/hand recovery is so slow!! I can't hold much with my right hand, and some days i'm a bad girl and don't use it at all, but it gets consequences, cause then it's slower and heavier. We need to use it as much as we could, as we did before the stroke... but sometimes it's so frustrating!!

[chuckp]

My arm is same as yours to much tone bend up all the time and I do stand out in the public. like you had said I would like to blend in three years recovery still a work in progress.

[FlipinIrish]

Hi Christine, congratulations with the exceptional progress you have made this far. I to am new to this, i had my stroke Jan 18th, 2011, leaving me with left sided paralysis. Yes, it is hard, yes it takes time, yes we don't fit in on the street much anymore, and yes you are remarkable and making tons of progress! I constantly ask my therapists " when will I be normal again?" the answer is always the same, "it's different for everyone, there's no set time frame", all we can do is push ourselves every minute, of every hour, of every day, and know that our perseverance, determination and fortitude will get us as close to pre-stroke as possible, and through this journey, we will have acquired inner strength surpasses most , because we are survivors!

[beth74]

I am 15 months after stroke. My left side was affected. My arm is slowly coming along. Shoulder was first to come back. Fingers will be last, is what I was told. I am spastic ad well. My fingers make a fist and arm draws up. Weight bearing exercises is important. Also warm therapy pool and using those styrofoam barbells in the water to push down. I have been getting Botox injections every 3 mos to my arm/ fingers (and leg/foot) even my thumb, which help a great deal! I suggest this to those who are able to afford it. It does help relax those muscles. Try the pool, even if you are wading around. Water is healing. I feel it has helped me so much.Best to you.