Hemiplegia

My father had a recent stroke and the doctor says he may have hemiplegia. What symptoms will he develop?

Hemiplegia means paralysis of one side of the body but the clinical features can vary tremendously. Both the symptoms and intensity are variable from person to person. The classic symptoms include:

- Difficulty with gait

- Difficulty with balance while standing or walking

- Having difficulty with fine motor activities like holding, grasping or pinching

- Increasing stiffness and rigidity of joints

- Muscle spasms

- Seizures

- Inability to hold bladder or bowel

- Difficulty with speech

- Difficulty swallowing food

In children, there may be significant delay in achieving developmental milestones like standing, smiling, crawling or speaking. The majority of children who develop hemiplegia also have abnormal mental development and have a low IQ.

 

Behaviors problems like anxiety, anger, irritability, lack of concentration or comprehension.

Emotions- including depression is very common

Adults can have the same symptoms as children when hemiplegia occurs. Unfortunately, many of these symptoms are permanent and recovery after a stroke is often a very long process.