Stroke affects any one of three areas in your brain -- your cerebrum, brain stem and cerebellum. The cerebrum is the large mass that occupies the top and front portions of your skull. Your cerebellum is located beneath and behind your cerebrum. Your cerebellum is responsible for all your movements and maintains your balance. Strokes occurring in the cerebella account for only 2 to 3 percent of all strokes, according to P.J. Kelly, et al, of the American Stroke Association, but these strokes generally inflict more damage than other types of cerebral vascular accidents.
Focus
Rehabilitation focuses on restoring your reflexes, balance and coordination lost to cerebellar stroke. Therapy addresses abnormal reflexes of your head and torso, as well as any coordination and balance problems you may be experiencing. Rehabilitation should decrease any dizziness, nausea or vomiting associated with a stroke in your cerebellum. Physical therapists help you regain your walking skills and work to resolve balance issues. Physical therapists will assist you in performing exercises designed to improve ataxia, or problems with coordination and balance.
Proprioceptive Training
Physical therapy exercises involve proprioceptive training, which means the therapist enhances your body awareness. He will also instruct you in exercises to improve your balance, as well as show you ways to stabilize and regain control over those ataxic body parts. These exercises restore your ability to control your arms and legs so that your body moves in a coordinated way.
Vestibular Exercises
Balance problems cause dizziness, nausea and vomiting associated with any type of motion. Your rehabilitation program will include vestibular exercises to help you overcome dizziness. Vestibular exercises loosen up your neck and shoulder muscles to overcome any protective muscle spasms which cause you to move your head and shoulders unnaturally, leading to dizziness. These exercises also train your eyes to move independently of your head.
Vestibular exercises help you practice balancing and moving in everyday situations by concentrating on natural eye and head movements. Vestibular exercises include walking in a straight line across the room with your eyes open, and again with your eyes closed. Repeating these moves gradually reduces dizziness and the resulting nausea and vomiting. Your physical therapist will also train you to use any assistive devices, like canes or walkers.
Results
Ataxia does not respond to medical treatment -- physical therapy is vital to your recovery. Physical therapy can invoke substantial improvement in how well you function, with outcome prediction weighing heavily on preexisting illnesses, damage inflicted by the stroke and your functional status upon your release from the hospital. The Movement Disorder Virtual University suggests continuous training for stabilizing the improvements you have made in your rehabilitation for cerebellar stroke.
