Stroke rehabilitation can be divided into the following stages:
  1. Acute care after stroke: After a stroke, when the condition is stable, the doctor will refer for physiotherapy. Some patients having a bad stroke severely affecting their mobility and swallowing ability may be life-threatening. Physiotherapist shall keep the patient's lungs hygiene, avoiding sputum retention, and thus the chance of lung infection. In addition, the range of limbs joints, arm/hand and leg control,would need to be restored as soon as possible. Last but not least, the patient’s mobility must be improved. For more serious stroke cases, physiotherapist must teach the patient to turn around in bed. In addition, he must slowly learn sitting and standing trunk control, and the ability to stand and walk to help patients discharge from the hospital as soon as possible
  2. Golden rehabilitation period: Generally speaking, the first 6 months after a stroke is the golden rehabilitation period. Because the soft tissues of the hands and feet are generally not too tight and the body is not too weak due to reduced activity, the rehabilitation progress would be faster. Physiotherapist would focus on improving the patient’s muscle control, mobility, and balance ability to help the patient integrate into society as soon as possible and resume their work or social life
  3. Maintenance period: When the patient's mobility improves or reaches the optimal levels, physiotherapist would to encourage the patient to continue to exercise to maintain good health. Studies have shown that the chance of re-stroke is higher than that of ordinary people, and exercise and maintaining a healthy life can effectively reduce the chance of stroke