Stroke is damage on the brain cells caused by bleeding or blockage of a blood vessel in brain. According to the world Health Organization, 15 million people have a stroke in a year worldwide. Therefore, stroke is a major health problem all over the world.
Stroke is a situation which necessitate urgent medical intervention and it is needed to know the early warning signals. The early warning signals may appear suddenly or develop gradually. These are:
- Loss of strength and numbness in the arm and leg on one side,
- Weakness in the muscles of one half of the face,
- Severe headache,
- Blurred consciousness,
- Speech disorder,
- Nausea and
- Seizure.
What is Left Side Paralysis?
Our brain is consisted of two hemispheres as right and left.
- The right hemisphere of our brain controls the left half of our body and
- The left hemisphere of our brain controls the right half of our body.
Therefore, if the stroke happens in the right hemisphere of brain, paralysis happens in the left side of the body and left side paralysis is observed.
What are the Symptoms of Left Side Paralysis?
The right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body. Besides, right hemisphere has some functions which are different from the left hemisphere. A patient with Left Side Paralysis may experience loss of these functions besides loss of movement. Symptoms of left side paralysis:
- The patients may have difficulty in recognizing the faces of their family members or people around them.
- The patients may lose the ability to pay attention to the left part of their environment. For instance, they may not eat the food on the left side of their plate because they are not aware that it is there, or they may not turn and answer when called from the left side. This situation is named as “hemineglect” in medical language.
- Visual problems may develop in some patients. Half of the sight is affected, and sight of the left may be lost.
- They may have emotional reactions that are irrelevant to the situation. For example, they may laugh inappropriately at an uncomic or sad story. This situation is neurological and occurs in approximately half of the stroke patients.
- Stroke may affect their self-awareness and the persons may disclaim their physical disability.
Left Side Paralysis Treatment
In case of stroke, the patient’s survival and returning the blood circulation in brain to the normal level is ensured via emergency medical treatments. Once the life-threatening situation is overcome, treatment of the functions which have been lost because of the stroke begins.
From the early period after stroke, physical therapy and rehabilitation applications are started to prevent the patient from being permanently paralyzed. Physical therapy and rehabilitation methods which are applied in stroke patients are named as neuro-rehabilitation. Neuro-rehabilitation is a teamwork and should be performed in comprehensive clinics which have been specialized in this field.
Watch: “Why Inpatient Physical Therapy is Important in Stroke?”
Left Side Paralysis treatment involves regaining as many functions as possible. Patients receive a combination of neuro-rehabilitation and robotic rehabilitation. Thanks to this, arm-leg exercises and walking exercises can be practiced intensively with plenty of repetitions.
By performing diverse exercises at the appropriate intensity, the brain’s ability to regulate itself (neuroplasticity) is stimulated. Thanks to this, the process of relearning the lost functions begins.
