Restoring Function After Stroke

Overview

Our team of physicians at the Mass General Paralysis Center help patients restore their quality of life after a stroke.

Nearly 80 percent of people who have experienced a loss of limb function due to a stroke still have trouble with movement even after rehab efforts. Conditions can include hemiplegia (weakness on one side of the body), difficulty controlling limb movement, and an inability to clench a fist or even walk. 

After a person suffers a stroke, their nervous system will attempt to repair itself to restore any lost motor systems. In most cases, the nervous system cannot restore normal function. Some muscles may not respond at all, and others can become overactive. This causes unnatural postures of the person's arm and hand. However, there may be muscles that have good control that are actually being hidden behind the muscles that do not have control. 

We typically recommend a patient go through physical therapy for one year. If after that time there is no improvement, we offer both surgical and non-surgical treatments that can help restore function.

The Mass General Paralysis Center is a multidisciplinary center featuring physicians and surgeons from a variety of service lines including Neurosurgery, Neurology, Radiology, Orthopaedics, Plastic Surgery and more. Our doctors work together to determine a treatment option that can address each patient’s unique situation. The Paralysis Center opened in 2018 and is led by Justin Brown, MD.