[ photo by cottonbro ]

Experiencing hand pain after stroke.

I am writing this week’s post from a personal standpoint. I had a phone conversation with a relative of mine who is of similar age to my grandparents. I grew up spending parts of many summers with her and her family, so despite them being somewhat distant relatives in terms of bloodline, we had a great relationship. For the sake of her privacy, I am going to change her name in this post. Let’s call her Sue. So, let me tell you a bit about what lead to this conversation and why I felt this would be valuable for others to read. 

Sue had a stroke nearly two months ago. It occurred on the right side of her brain, causing some difficulty with her speech and causing weakness on the left side of her body. Once she was stable from the medical standpoint, she went to acute inpatient rehabilitation. She was there for a couple of weeks. She made awesome progress. Her speech improved significantly. She was able to walk.

By the time she left, she was really focusing on the coordination component of the left hand. That was the part that was slowest to return. I never talked directly to Sue or her husband during her rehab, but my dad gave me frequent reports on her progress as he received them from Sue’s daughters. Sue was able to discharge home at a modified independent level with most of her mobility tasks and with most of her ADLs. In one of my more recent updates from my dad, she was even starting to do some work in her garden. Sue was never one to slow down, so I knew that she would push herself to get every last bit of recovery possible out of her body. 

Improvement after stroke followed by noticeable, new symptoms.

A few days after that report from my dad, he called to ask me to give Sue a call because she was starting to have some negative changes in her affected side. It was causing concern both with Sue and her husband. They did not really know what was going on but were especially worried that her stroke had progressed.

I reached out to Sue later that day. She told me about some new hand pain and swelling she was experiencing. This had just started a few days prior and had not been an issue prior to this. She had been doing her best to keep the hand elevated at night, but she felt that it was not really helping the swelling to go away.

In regards to the hand pain, it was a lot worse in the mornings when her hand was especially tight in the clenched fist position (this tightness is very common in limbs affected by strokes). After getting several more details from her, I felt comfortable in determining that she was not having a recurrent stroke but instead was developing post-stroke side effects that often don’t rear their ugly head until many weeks after someone has already returned to home from their rehabilitation hospital stay. 

Sue and I talked through some simple things she could try out on her own. I recommended an edema glove and resting hand splint. She was able to purchase both items on Amazon at affordable prices. This conversation naturally, for me, led me to ask when her appointment with her physiatrist was scheduled. It turned out that she was not actually scheduled to follow up with a physiatrist after her discharge from acute rehab. This can often happen after rehab.

In a perfect world, once someone has completed acute rehab, they are scheduled to follow up with a physiatrist a few weeks later. This is especially true after a neurological injury such as a stroke. As I stated earlier, there are so many issues that can arise in the weeks and months after the initial stroke.

A physiatrist is trained to recognize those issues and to manage them as they appear. I told Sue I would work on finding a physiatrist she could follow up with as an outpatient. Sue was grateful to hear that. She had her appointment with her primary care physician and her neurologist, but the idea of seeing the specialist in her post stroke recovery had never crossed her mind.

A conversation births peace of mind and a plan.

After I hung up the phone with Sue, it made me realize just how much information is out there that people just don’t know. That conversation with Sue was really not all that long, but I ended it feeling that it was valuable time spent with her in a few different ways. First of all, it gave her some peace of mind. It also helped her and her husband to know what they could do in the moment to manage the issue she was having at that time. The final thing is that our conversation helped to guide her in what would be the next best steps in managing the issues that might arise as a result of her stroke. In her case, that was making sure she had the appropriate follow up care with a physiatrist. These are the conversations that I love to have. Would you, or someone you know, benefit from this type of conversation? Click Schedule Consultation to set up a time at your convenience.

Are you, an aging parent or other loved one dealing with residual symptoms after a stroke and not sure how to proceed? Share your thoughts in the Comments section. Have specific questions about this or other topics related to care after a stroke? Schedule a consultation and get all your questions answered.

© 2021 Jessica Kluetz, DO