Some reports of spasticity have even been documented as early as 1 week post stroke (Malhotra et al, 2008).This demonstrates that the development of complications can begin immediately post stroke, emphasising the need for timely instigation specialist rehabilitative care and positioning. Abnormal leg and arm postures induced by spasticity and/or contractures(which represent abnormal shortening of muscle resulting in distortion of joint and loss of movement) can also create difficulties with sitting and mobilisation, and these atypical postures can worsen as the severity of the disability progresses. This makes activities of daily living, such as eating and drinking, difficult to maintain. Sadly, examples of all of these muscular-induced difficulties (Table 1), have been detailed throughout a range of clinical settings, but occur less in the specialised acute and rehabilitation stroke environments referred to earlier. However, more recently, individual recovery following an acute stroke has been shown to be significantly enhanced if specialist therapy and wider social care support packages can be instigated in a timely
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