sensation

Hi Jill,

A community member Karen Bayly has suggested:

Jill. Have a look at the stuff on the Sense research on the Melbourne Brain Centre/ Florey Neurosciences Institute website, email Dr Leanne Carey and ask her for a suggestion of a therapist who has trained in sensation therapy near you and feel free to ask Dianna for my phone number if you'd like to call and talk through my insights into similar issues or PM me on FB if you'd like to.

If you want to leave your contact details, click on this link, and you can message me here or Karen directly here.

Diana

Hi Jill,

Yes as Diana and Karen have suggested you can work on improving your sensation. Seeing an occupational therapist and physiotherapist who are familiar with sensory retraining after stroke is ideal. You can find more information about Professor Leeanne Carey's study here.

You may also like to read more about sensory changes here and we also cover sensory changes in our upper limb management fact sheet.

If you want to discuss further don't hesitate to call us on StrokeLine on 1800 787 653.

Best wishes,

Simone - Occupational Therapist for StrokeLine

Im 5 months post and have been getting hot and cold sensations  on the side i had the stroke have app tomorrow  so going to ask if this is a normal thing 

Hi Jill, 

I am glad to read your notes about pins and needles and the sensation of heat in your right arm. I had a heart attack and a stroke 2 years ago and left me with expression aphasia. I have gotten much better with my aphasia but I still have a long way. 

I have had two episodes when I lost the sensation in my right arm, and in both times are a result for heat - one, very cold morning hanging the washing, and a second time, a late morning in a very humid day (I live in Japan, but I am an Australian). The doctors checked me out but everything looked ok. 

I would love to read any articles or replies from your posts about pins and needles. 

Best, 

Marcus

Thanks everyone for the tips! I will be checking them out soon. I am 3 month post stroke and have intermittent sensations on my face, fingers, tonge and mouth in the areas originally affected by the stroke. The sensations happen when i have been concentrating for a period of time or talking alot :)

I told the neurologist the other day and he decided to put me on more anti-platelet therapy. The speech pathologist i saw was a student and never heard of it before (she will check with her supervisor) and the OT wasnt too sure about it either.

Hi all,

How have you been getting on? Perhaps the altered sensation becomes more exacerbated with fatigue and heat? The sensations may fluctuate during your recovery, however hopefully they improve over time. The sensation has been affected due to the area of the brain that has been affected by the stroke. 

Our Clinical Guidelines for Stroke 2017 (DRAFT) has been released and states: "Around 40% of stroke patients are assessed as having sensory deficits on admission (Stroke Foundation 2015 [6]), with impairments in touch sensation, proprioception and kinesthesia in most cases (de Diego et al 2013 [44])."

There is a weak recommendation (due to small research sample sizes): 
For stroke survivors with sensory loss of the upper limb, sensory discrimination training may be provided. (de Diego et al 2013 [44]; Carey et al 2011 [46]; Doyle et al 2010 [47])

Practical Info:
Sensory discrimination training should be provided as part of a goal directed rehabilitation program.

You can discuss sensory discrimination training with your rehab team. If you would like to discuss further call us on StrokeLine on 1800 787 653.

Simone (StrokeLine)

Hi Jill

I have been getting pins &needles in my fingers, was told that it could be coming from my neck as i have a compressed vain in my neck.

cath