Under every day circumstances, brains use learning to reorganise the way they work, generally through forming more nerve connections and improving the efficiency of the connections. When you have had a stroke, your brain still has the ability to reorganise to restore or compensate for areas that have been damaged. This ability to use learning to reorganise the brain is the key to maximise your recovery. We know from research that learning is maximised with practice under certain conditions.
Practice is imperative for learning any skill and regaining movement or function after stroke is no exception. Practice and lots of it; generally the more you can do, the better. You will get better results if your practice is meaningful to you, in other words, practicing a task or activity is better than practicing an isolated movement. So you’ll do better if you reach for that beer can, rather than just reaching as a movement! It’s also important for your practice to be challenging, so that you feel like you are working hard. A final point is that your practice should be specific. If a rugby player wants to get better at rugby, then they play rugby, not tennis. It’s the same for you; practice each specific activity that you want to improve. These principles are universal and can be applied whether you want to improve anything from your walking to your speech.
A consultation with a therapist can assist your recovery from stroke. A therapist can give you guidance about the activities and exercises you can do to help yourself or can discuss whether one to one therapy sessions might be helpful for you.
