What is Hemiplegia, and How Does It Affect Individuals Who Have It?
Hemiparesis is a condition that causes paralysis of one side of the body. This condition can be caused by stroke, brain tumor, or brain injury. Hemiparesis may be temporary or permanent. It can affect anyone at any age, but it’s most common in older adults with a stroke or other conditions affecting blood flow to the brain. Hemiparesis therapy aims to reduce muscle spasms and regain lost mobility. While there is no cure for hemiparesis, effective therapy can help patients recover from hemiparesis and lead normal lives again.
As part of their therapy, many people with hemiparesis will be advised to use home exercise equipment such as resistance bands or weights to help improve their strength and mobility. This type of therapy is often called “home exercise therapy.” A trained physical therapist or occupational therapist can help show patients how to properly use these devices at home to improve their strength and mobility even after leaving the hospital or rehabilitation center.
Hemiparesis Can Be Caused By the Following:
Stroke — a blood clot or burst blood vessel blocks or cuts off blood flow to part of your brain. This causes damage to nerve cells in the affected area. The damage may be temporary or permanent.
Head injury — a blow to your head can cause damage to your brain, which may lead to permanent paralysis on one side of your body.
Brain tumor — a tumor growing in your brain can cause paralysis on one side of your body because the tumor presses against the part of your brain that controls movement on that side.
Spinal cord injury — when the spinal cord is damaged by trauma such as an accident or fall, it can result in paralysis on one side of your body due to loss of feeling and movement below the injury site in the spine (paraplegia).
How Hemiparesis Affects Individuals Who Have It
- Balance and Coordination Problems
Balance and coordination problems are common in patients with hemiplegia, especially if the stroke was in the left side of the brain. For example, if you’re right-handed and have left-sided hemiparesis, you may have trouble walking or performing other tasks with both hands at the same time. If you’re left-handed and have right-sided hemiparesis, you may have trouble walking or performing other tasks with your left side. These problems can make walking difficult and often worsen when you move quickly or experience strong emotions. For example, you might have trouble walking down stairs or stepping onto a curb because your balance system isn’t working properly.
In addition, your gait (the way you walk) may be irregular because your limbs don’t swing together properly. You may drag one foot or swing your arms too much while walking. Your posture may also be off balance due to a lack of muscle control, leading to back pain and stiffness. If you have balance and coordination problems from a stroke at home, try doing things that will improve them, such as: Sitting down the next time you’re about to stand up from a chair or couch — this will give you time to adjust your body weight before standing up, take small steps instead of big ones when walking and also you can use a cane for support.
- Slurred Speech and Difficulty Swallowing
Slurred speech is a sign of hemiparesis, especially if the right side of your body is affected. This could be due to weakness in your facial muscles, which control speech. This makes it harder for people with hemiparesis to pronounce certain sounds, especially “s” and “l.” Stroke can cause facial weakness that affects chewing, swallowing, and speaking. You may slur words or slur them in only one ear. You might have trouble swallowing because you can’t control one side of your mouth or throat muscles properly. Your speech might be hard to understand because you can’t pronounce certain sounds properly. The condition can also cause drooling because of weakness in your facial muscles.
- Inability to Move the Arm or Leg
One of the most common types of hemiparesis is hemiparesis of the upper limbs. This condition affects one side of the body, including one arm and one leg, that has lost its ability to move. The affected limb is often described as “weak” or “lazy.” Hemiparesis of the lower limbs is less common than hemiparesis of the upper limbs. It can occur on one or both sides of the body, but it’s more common on one side. People with hemiparesis of their lower limbs may have difficulty walking normally due to a lack of balance and coordination problems. They may also have difficulty with certain fine motor skills, such as handwriting because they have trouble controlling their fingers and hands.
- Severe Headache with Sensitivity to Light, Noise, or Touch
In some cases, people with severe hemiparesis may experience headaches so severe they need pain medicine or even surgery to relieve them. It often causes a severe headache that can last several days or weeks. This is usually caused by the pressure and swelling of the brain due to a lack of blood flow. They may also have sensitivity to light, noise, or touch on one side of their body — especially around their head — due to damaged nerves in the brain stem (the part of your brain that controls many automatic functions like breathing).
- Fatigue
Fatigue is a common symptom of hemiparesis. The energy can cause the fatigue it takes for an individual to use their body in a way that is less efficient than before, as well as the toll on their body from having to use their muscles in different ways than they are accustomed to using them. Hemiparesis causes fatigue because of the energy needed to move your body in ways that are not habitual. For example, if you have hemiparesis on one side of your body, you will need to use the other side more often to compensate for this lack of mobility. You will also need to use different muscles than usual because your entire body has been affected by this condition. This means that your muscles are being worked harder than they normally would be, and they become tired more quickly than usual. This can cause extreme fatigue, especially if you were already tired before suffering from this condition.
Hemiparesis is a condition that can lead to issues with motor skills, speech, and communication. The good news is that with the right help, hemiparesis can be overcome or at least well-managed.
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