Mental Exercises That Aid Recovery After A Head Injury
Head injuries are common, and those affected often need to relearn specific skills. One of the most common forms of treatment for head injuries is cognitive rehabilitation therapy, which uses mental exercises to help people recover. Fortunately, you can try some mental exercises to help aid in recovery after a head injury.
Positive Steps After Your Head Injury
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Unfortunately, the trauma from a head injury can leave you experiencing effects for quite some time, but there’s hope. Any damage to the head can affect your ability to live a productive life and cause multiple symptoms.
For example, people can experience dizziness, vertigo, inability to process thoughts, and headaches. But, above all, with treatment from your medical provider, you can take steps to improve your quality of life.
Mental exercises are essential to recovery from a head injury because they help strengthen the injured areas of the brain and help patients develop better problem-solving and reasoning skills. If you or someone you know experienced a head injury, cognitive rehabilitation therapy might be an option to help with the recovery process.
Below, you’ll discover some mental exercises commonly used in cognitive rehabilitation therapy to aid recovery after a head injury.
1 – Memory Tasks
Memory tasks are essential to cognitive rehabilitation therapy. Above all, they help strengthen the brain’s ability to remember and recall information. Memory tasks can be as simple as memorizing a list of words or more complex activities, such as remembering a story or a series of directions.
In addition, quality sleep, exercise, and proper nutrition can help your patient’s memory and recovery from a head injury. It works best with other forms of physical therapy, especially in patients recovering from slip and fall accidents. You should also seek legal counsel to ensure you receive proper compensation for your injury.
For instance, you can do exercises that work out attention, brain speed, memory, people skills, navigation, and intelligence. Exercise tasks like these can aid in your recovery and help develop essential brain skills.
More importantly, the attorneys at wieandlaw.com can answer any questions and help you receive your proper compensation. It is important to remember that recovery from a head injury takes time, but with the right help, you can fully recover.
2 – Draw Something From the Memory
Drawing something from memory can help strengthen the brain’s ability to recall information, and often impaired after a head injury. Have the patient draw a simple object or scene without looking at any reference material.
Moreover, the patient should draw the scene or object in as much detail as possible. However, don’t feel discouraged if they can only draw a few lines. It may take some time to become acclimated to this task, but it is worth trying.
Typically, you can discover many creative ways to treat the trauma from a brain injury, and innovative and artistic methods can and do help. Often, engaging both the right and left hemispheres of the brain can produce positive results. In addition, art therapy can stimulate the brain and form new neural pathways to repair the damage.
3 – Word Games and Puzzles For Head Injury
Word games and puzzles are great for helping your patients work on their problem-solving skills. Crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, word searches, and even simple logic puzzles can help strengthen the communication between different brain parts and help build up the weakened areas after a head injury.
For example, games like Go Fish (and Other Card Games) Card games, UNO, For example, games like Go Fish (and Other Card Games) Card games, UNO, Scattergories, Scrabble, Jenga, and Sudoku are good for increasing memory, pattern recognition, and attention span., Scrabble, Jenga, Concentration, and Sudoku are good for increasing memory, pattern recognition, and attention span.
4 – Using the Non-Dominant Hand
Using the non-dominant hand can be a great way to improve motor function and help strengthen connections between the two sides of the brain. Have the patient try activities such as writing, drawing with their non-dominant hand, or carrying out simple tasks like opening doors and turning on lights. This exercise can be challenging initially, but it will become easier with practice.
Weight shifts are essential to cognitive rehabilitation therapy as they help improve balance and increase mental focus. To perform this exercise, stand with your feet hip-width apart and shift your weight from one foot to the other, lifting each heel off the floor for a few seconds. As you become more comfortable with this exercise, you can add complexity by closing your eyes, using a resistance band, or counting the number of shifts you make.
5 – Meditation
Meditation can be a powerful tool to help focus and concentrate for those impaired after a head injury. Have the patient sit quietly in a comfortable position and focus on their breath for several minutes.
Moreover, this exercise can also help improve their ability to control their emotions, which can disrupt a person after a head injury. Positive psychologists have used meditation to help patients cope with their injuries and manage the stress accompanying recovery. Yoga can also be beneficial as it helps improve posture while calming the body and mind.
These exercises are just a few that patients can use to help with cognitive rehabilitation therapy. You can fully recover from a head injury and get back to living your life with practice and dedication. It is essential to consult with your doctor or therapist before starting any exercise program, as every person’s condition is different.
They can also provide support and guidance to help you make the most of your rehabilitation. With dedication and perseverance, you can return to living your life without any lasting effects.
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