How Acupuncture is Helpful for Stroke Paralysis?

 How Acupuncture is Helpful for Stroke Paralysis?                      

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and death. It's a good reminder to follow a healthy lifestyle no matter how old you are — eating a nutritious diet, exercising, managing stress, and getting enough sleep — and to learn to recognize the signs of a stroke: weakness or numbness on one side of the body, vision changes, difficulty speaking or understanding, dizziness, and an excruciating headache. All stroke symptoms come on suddenly.  Strokes can happen to anyone from birth through adulthood. There are two types of strokes: ischemic and haemorrhagic.

A stroke that happens when the blood supply is no longer traveling to the brain is called an ischemic stroke. A stroke that occurs when a blood vessel breaks or leaks in the brain is called a hemorrhagic stroke. Both types of stroke are serious and, depending on the severity, can cause permanent damage. Rehabilitation is an integral part of recovering from a stroke. As you may expect, rehabilitation options are vast and cover everything from physical activity to cognitive and emotional activities.

How does acupuncture work?

Acupuncture works by increasing blood circulation, relaxing muscles, and stimulating the production of neurotransmitters like endorphins and serotonin.

You may be asked to lie down when it’s time for the treatment. Depending on the area your acupuncturist will treat, you may be face up, face down, or on your side.

Your acupuncturist will gently insert sterile, single-use needles at strategic points.

You’ll likely feel them inserting the needles, but you probably won’t feel any pain. One session typically lasts 20 minutes.   

 There are different types of strokes, and the potential to prevent any of them depends on their cause. Still, 80% of strokes are preventable through medication and lifestyle changes, Trusted Source, including:

· Maintaining healthy blood pressure

· Controlling cholesterol and diabetes

· Eating a well-balanced diet

· Exercising regularly

· Avoiding tobacco and heavy alcohol use.

It’s also important to know your risk factors and to take steps to address them. There are things like age, gender, race or ethnicity, family history, and genetics that we can’t change. However, we can address high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high lipids, atrial fibrillation, smoking, and carotid artery disease.  The integrative medicine practice of acupuncture may be helpful for people recovering from stroke. Specifically, new research suggests it can help with aphasia, the loss of speech, which about one-third of stroke survivors have.  

Here are some potential benefits of acupuncture for stroke patients:

· Motor function

Some studies suggest that acupuncture can help improve motor function, especially if treatment starts early and continues for as long as possible. One study found that acupuncture had a better short-term and long-term clinical effect than physical rehabilitation.

· Disability

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that acupuncture had a small positive effect on disability after stroke rehabilitation.

· Quality of life

Acupuncture can improve a patient's quality of life and independence.