Stroke Treatment

How is stroke treated?
Unfortunately, stroke cannot be cured. The brain cannot heal itself the same way the rest of the body does. If a tiny part of the brain is injured by stroke, that tiny part of the brain will never “grow back” or be the same as it was before the stroke happened.

Fortunately, the brain has other ways of responding to an injury. If a small part of the brain is permanently injured and cannot do its job anymore, other parts of the brain often “pitch in” and take over the job the injured part of the brain used to do. Retraining parts of the brain to do different jobs is slow, difficult work. This is why, for many children with stroke, the most important part of their treatment is neurorehabilitation, where children work with doctors, nurses, and special therapists who are experts in helping children retrain their brains. Neurorehabilitation includes many different therapies, such as physical or speech therapy, that are selected to treat individual symptoms.

For example, a child who has trouble with words will probably spend a lot of time working with a speech therapist. A child who has a weak left hand may work with a physical therapist to strengthen the hand. An occupational therapist might help the child relearn how to do things with the hand that are important to daily life, like using a zipper or holding a cup. Often, children with weak hands and arms get constraint therapy, in which a large mitten is placed on the strong hand to help a child practice using the weak hand.

Neurorehabilitation is hard work for kids and parents, and there is no guarantee that a symptom will ever completely go away. However, the effort is worth it because most children can significantly improve their symptoms with the proper rehabilitative therapy.

Other treatment options are specific to the individual child. For example, a child who has seizures because of a stroke might need anti-seizure medication. Some kids might need to take blood-thinning medication. And if a child has a medical condition that caused a stroke, that medical condition should be treated as well. Your doctor will explain to you what treatments will work best for your child.

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Last Updated: September 15, 2006