Stroke Treatment

Full recovery from a stroke is best the earlier you get to a hospital for TREATMENT!

Treatment for strokes from clots to the brain is different from strokes caused by bleeding into the brain. And 8 out of every 10 strokes are caused by clots.

The recommended treatment for clot strokes if you arrive to a hospital within three hours after the start of your symptoms is clot busting drugs given through a drip. You can think of it like unblocking your kitchen pipe with Draino. This allows oxygen rich blood to get back into the area and save any brain cells that did not die.

For small bleeds, they are often watched and allowed to heal on their own. If getting worse, surgery is done to 'decompress' the brain - the free blood takes up space in your brain squeezing it against the skull.

When you first arrive at a hospital the first thing your doctor does is listen to a description from you of what happened, and then examining you to see if s/he can pick up the signs of a stroke. If it seems likely that you've suffered a stroke then you're sent for a picture of the brain called a CAT scan. This picture then lets your doctors know if you've had a clot or bleeding stroke and plan appropriate care for you - clot busting drugs will make a bleed worse but improve a clot.

You will spend some time in hospital until stable before discharge.

After the hospital, your next stop will be a visit to a physiotherapist. Here you will get exercises and other help to recover your ability to speak, move around, and help yourself. Strokes leave affected arms so stiff that they can get permanently fixed bent at the elbow without physiotherapy - known as a contracture - and walking clumsy as the affected leg no longer responds and has to be dragged along to walk. Physiotherapy can greatly help to improve these conditions.

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