Specializing in quality home care in Wellesley and the Eastern Massachusetts area for over 25 years.

Senior Care News

Managing the Pain that Can Come from a Stroke

Elderly Care Norwood MA-Approximately 10 percent of all people who survive a stroke will experience chronic pain that makes a serious impact on their health and quality of life moving forward. Helping your elderly parent to manage this pain is an important part of guiding them through recovery and back into their normal life.

Elderly Care Norwood MA

Each year approximately 800,000 people suffer from a stroke. This can be a truly frightening experience and one that leads into the need for extensive recovery. As a family caregiver this is a time when you will need to give your elderly parent even more support and care than you may have before, and be prepared for symptoms and effects that could arise well after the initial stroke. One such symptom is post-stroke pain. This type of pain can occur weeks or even months after the stroke happens, and occurs in approximately half of all people who suffer from a stroke. Approximately 10 percent of all people who survive a stroke will experience chronic pain that makes a serious impact on their health and quality of life moving forward. Helping your elderly parent to manage this pain is an important part of guiding them through recovery and back into their normal life.

Use these tips to help your elderly parent manage the pain that can come from a stroke: 

  • Know the risks. Just as there are risk factors that increase the chances that your elderly parent will experience a stroke, there are risk factors that increase the chances that they will experience pain after the stroke. Some of these include consumption of alcohol, diabetes, being overweight, and the presence of other pain disorders. Talk to your parent’s doctor about these risk factors and get recommendations for how to resolve them so that your parent is at lower risk of the pain.
  • Avoid triggers. While some people will experience chronic pain that persists virtually the time and does not worsen or abate noticeably with behaviors, many more will have triggers that will cause the pain. Monitor your parent’s condition and take note of when they experience this pain. This can help you to identify the specific factors that may contribute to your parent’s pain so that you can help them avoid these triggers. Common factors include tight clothing, clothing that bunches around the extremities, hot baths, and prolonged exercise.
  • Stay active. While it is normal to try to resist activity when you are suffering from pain, it is important to encourage your loved one to be as active as is possible and is safe. Staying active helps to keep the muscles strong and conditioned, and prevents pain, stiffness, and loss of range of motion and flexibility within the joints. Talk to their doctor about the types of activities that are right for your parent and when they will know that they have done enough so that they do not overexert themselves.

If your elderly parent has recently suffered from a stroke or is experiencing difficulties with their recovery following a stroke, an elderly care provider may offer fantastic benefits. Elderly care enables you to customize a schedule of care ideal for your parent’s specific needs and challenges, and to correspond with the amount of care that you are able to give your loved one throughout the week. The result in your parent getting the care, support, and assistance that they need at all times so that they can concentrate on healing and getting back to the lifestyle that they desire and deserve.

http://www.stroke.org/we-can-help/survivors/stroke-recovery/post-stroke-conditions/physical/pain

If you or an aging loved one are considering Elderly Care Services in Norwood MA, or anywhere in Eastern Massachusetts, please call the caring staff at CARE Resolutions – (508) 906-5572.

Recent Posts

Categories

Contact Us About Home Care