Life after a stroke
People who have had a stroke affecting the brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves need rehabilitation. The most obvious effects of a stroke are physical, but in some cases psychological, cognitive and social problems become just as important. The aim of neurorehabilitation is to minimise the effect of the stroke on the patient’s life.
This is a complex, integrated process. Today, several levels of treatment are distinguished. The first level addresses the pathology itself and the mechanisms underlying the stroke. At this level, patients are usually prescribed medication or surgery.
The second and third levels concern the restoration of impaired neurological functions and of everyday functioning, respectively. Physical rehabilitation methods are used to address the effects at these levels.
The fourth level addresses social deprivation, restoring the person’s quality of life after the impairment of neurological functions and everyday functioning that limit their social role. To reduce this impact, social rehabilitation is usually used to help the person return to the natural course of their life.
Today there is a wide range of rehabilitation methods, and the most innovative of them are used in Switzerland. Robotic mechanotherapy systems are regarded as a particularly promising field. This area of neurorehabilitation uses robotic devices to train arm and leg function with feedback from the brain. The exercises take the form of games in a virtual environment. After a course of rehabilitation, the patient regains muscle tone in the limbs and fine motor skills, moves more actively and coordinates complex movements better.
Another important method is transcranial magnetic stimulation, which stimulates neurons in the brain with an alternating magnetic field, without surgery. This technique makes it possible to define the boundaries of areas of brain dysfunction. With navigated brain stimulation systems, different areas of the brain can be stimulated in a targeted, localised way.
Clinique Valmont is one of the most popular clinics for rehabilitation. Over the years, members of royal families and celebrities have restored their health here, including Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel, Grace Jones and members of the Belgian royal family. Patients who have had a stroke affecting the brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves come here for assessment. The clinic also offers rehabilitation for bone and joint conditions and an Alzheimer’s disease screening programme.
