After Your Stroke: How to Handle 5 Common Complications

How to manage mental and physical difficulties

After you’ve had a stroke, some physical or mental complications are likely. Depending on how severe the stroke was and other factors, you may have major or minor difficulties that are sometimes temporary or possibly permanent.

“Each and every stroke is different. Recovery depends on the size and location of the stroke, its cause and the age of the patient,” says neurologist Jayashree Sundararajan, MD.

The most common type of stroke is ischemic — when a blood vessel in the brain develops a clot and cuts off the blood supply to the brain. This describes about 87 percent of strokes.

A hemorrhagic stroke is typically more serious. It occurs when a weakened blood vessel in the brain ruptures. A hemorrhage (bleeding from the blood vessel) happens suddenly.

You may experience one or more of these common complications after your stroke.