Written By Brooke Chaplan / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

A stroke is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting Americans - more so the elderly groups. If your family member or friend is diagnosed with a stroke, it will definitely impact your lifestyle in one way or the other.

Depending on the severity of the disease, recovery from stroke can often take weeks, months, or even years. In the meantime, it's critical for someone to sacrifice their time and effort to offer support to stroke patients to aid in their recovery.

Before resuming the role as a caregiver, you may be wondering what to do to best help these patients. Well, the following are some useful things you can do to enable you to help la oved one during and after a stroke:

Learn About Stroke

Stroke is a medical condition that affects people differently. Therefore, the first thing you should do is to learn about the condition. Usually, this condition occurs when there is an obstruction in the artery supplying oxygen to the brain. If oxygen fails to reach brain cells, then the cells can either be damaged or completely destroyed.

Once you have understood the concept, it makes it easier to know the different side effects among people and how to handle them. At the same time, you will be in a better position to understand the necessary medication for your patient.

Learn How to Communicate

More often, when the brain memory is affected due to stroke, patients tend to suffer from dysarthria or aphasia. When aphasia and dysarthria are present, the individual can find it difficult to comprehend speech or control muscles that facilitate speech.

As a caregiver, you need to communicate often with the patients to understand their requirements. In addition, communicating effectively with stroke patients enables them to understand and re-learn their environment. Luckily, there are several methods of communication you can use, such as verbal and non-verbal expressions.

Encourage Low-Impact/Rehab Exercises

As a caregiver, you may want to encourage some rehab exercises for your loved one. Generally, low-impact exercises are safe and effective types of exercises that will help quicken the recovery speed. Some of the common exercises you can think of include walking, jogging, cycling, and using the elliptical, among others.

However, it’s important to check with a professional like a locum tenens stroke doctor in your area before settling on a particular type of exercise. Note that victims who experienced frontal lobe stroke often find it tough doing things on their own. As such, they may require more therapy for faster recovery.

Stroke survivors require individualized special care to help them recover fully. While no one wants to see their friend or loved one suffer from these diseases, it's something we should face boldly should it happen. If you are thinking of how to help your loved one during and after a stroke, then the above-mentioned tips will be of great help.

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Written By:

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan

Reviewed By:

Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.