Numbness and Pain Experienced by Stroke Victims

Abstract

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants to examine the sensations experienced and descriptive expressions used by people who suffer numbness and pain as the after-effects of a stroke, and to identify ways in which the participants deal with those sensations. We learned the following. (1) While individual participants described their experiences with numbness and pain in a variety of ways, many participants said that the sensations were difficult to describe. (2) Participants found it difficult to distinguish between numbness and pain. Some participants indicated that as their numbness grew more pronounced, it became almost painful. (3) Participants experienced what seemed to be contradictory sensations, sometimes feeling deep, internal numbness and pain due to changes in the weather or other factors, while also feeling numbness and pain on the surface of their skin induced by direct contact with wind and rain. (4) Participants did not feel numbness and pain while sleeping and would forget about it when their attention was focused elsewhere. When their attention was focused on the numbness and pain, the sensations were more pronounced. Also, numbness and pain were felt not only on their own, but also in combination with other abnormal sensations, such as a“sense of uncertainty,”“changes in sensation of hot and cold,”and a“sense of discomfort.”Numbness and pain have wide-ranging effects on the lives of stroke victims, and the participants of this study reported that they have striven to maintain their lifestyles by“learning to cope with the pain and numbness,”“coming to terms with my body,”“adjusting to living in a world of health equipment,”“becoming involved with others in my surroundings,”and“focusing on myself.”