How to Avoid Learned Nonuse After Stroke – Flint Rehab https://www.flintrehab.

com/2018/learned-nonuse-stroke/

December 6, 2018

How to prevent learned nonuse in stroke patients

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Have you ever heard the phrase “use it or lose it!” from your stroke rehabilitation specialist?

This popular phrase summarizes the condition of learned nonuse.

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If you want to learn what learned nonuse is and how to prevent it from happening, read on!

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The phenomenon of ‘learned nonuse’ results from neglect of the affected limbs after stroke.

For example, sometimes stroke survivors become overly-dependent upon their non-affected hand to
complete daily tasks.

Learned nonuse occurs when this neglect becomes severe and the brain completely forgets how to
use the affected hand.

This worsens mobility in the affected hand and, when learned nonuse is severe, may even lead to
paralysis.

Learned nonuse doesn’t happen all at once though.

Perhaps the stroke survivor stops using her affected hand when she washes the dishes. Although she
isn’t complete neglect, it begins to worsen impairments in the affected hand.

As the affected hand gets worse, the stroke survivor may continue to rely upon the “good” hand to
complete more and more daily tasks.

Eventually, learned nonuse can result in total loss of mobility. So, how can you stop this pattern from
happening?

To prevent learned nonuse, stroke patients must strive to use their affected side – even if it’s just a little
– every day.

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How to Avoid Learned Nonuse After Stroke – Flint Rehab https://www.flintrehab.com/2018/learned-nonuse-stroke/

As long as you use it, you won’t lose it!

Also, try to emphasize massed practice during your exercises. High repetition helps rewire the brain,
which is how mobility is improved after stroke.

When learned nonuse is severe, an aggressive stroke exercise regimen can help.

If you have the patience for it, a type of therapy called Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT)
can really help.

CIMT involves intensive training of the affected side while restricting movement of the unaffected side.

This form of physical therapy is very aggressive though, so many stroke patients prefer to stick to
massed practice.

To prevent learned nonuse, you need to move your affected side just a little every day.

While minimal movement can help prevent learned nonuse, it doesn’t necessarily improve movement.
It just prevents things from getting worse.

To improve movement after stroke, you need to perform high repetition of stroke exercises daily.

That’s the best method for recovering from stroke.

As one of our blog readers, you can get instant access to our stroke
recovery ebook called 15 Tips that Every Stroke Survivor Should Know
by signing up below!

It's full of unconventional advice that you won't find anywhere else.

You'll also receive our weekly Monday newsletter that contains 5 articles
on stroke recovery (2 are brand spankin' new, and 3 are selectively
pulled from the archives).

We will never sell your email address, and we never spam. That we
promise.

Hooray! Your ebook is on it's way to your inbox! Enjoy :)

"I had a stroke 10 years ago affecting my arm, hand and leg.

The FitMi works for the arm, hand, leg and core. Since my leg and
core are in pretty good shape, I can concentrate on my arm and
hand alone.

This has the benefit of allowing me to spend more time on the body
parts I know really need work.

I have had the FitMi for just over a month and I can see slight
differences in my ability to open my hand, especially my little
finger which has been the hardest finger to get to work for me!

The unit is fun to use and pushes you to do a lot of repetitions.

However, it does not push you so hard that you become
discouraged, it will adjust to your ability.

This works well for me because some of the exercises are difficult to accomplish.

Overall, I would recommend the FitMi to anyone needing that extra push to do a lot of repetitions.

And that's what rehab is all about."

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How to Avoid Learned Nonuse After Stroke – Flint Rehab https://www.flintrehab.com/2018/learned-nonuse-stroke/

Whether it's been 2 months or 10 years, FitMi can help you improve mobility.

If you want to recover movement in your leg, arm, or hand like John, check out FitMi.

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Boost Mobility with These 7 Stroke The Ultimate Guide to Stroke
Rehabilitation Techniques Recovery (Plus 15 Mistakes to Avoid!)

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