What is the cause of left-sided hemiplegia?

Hemiplegia is a common disease among the elderly. The harm caused by hemiplegia to patients is enormous. So what is the cause of swelling in hemiplegia of the left limbs?

(1) Venous reflux disorder: The blood supply of the human body is completed by the circulatory system. The circulatory system includes the heart and blood vessels. The blood vessels throughout the body are composed of two parts: arteries and veins. Arteries supply fresh blood to tissue cells; veins return used blood to the heart. The power of arterial blood flow comes from every powerful contraction of the heart and the elasticity of the blood vessel walls; while venous return mainly depends on the pressure difference between it and the heart, and the squeezing force of muscle contraction on the blood vessel walls. Because the walls of veins are thin and have poor elasticity, the effect of this squeezing pressure is particularly important. But when the limbs are paralyzed, the muscles lose nerve control and stop contracting, so the squeezing force of the muscles on the veins disappears, causing venous return obstruction.

(2) Nutritional metabolic disorders: Human limb movements are controlled by nerves, and the vasoconstriction and dilation functions of blood vessels are also controlled by nerves. When a limb becomes hemiplegic, it loses nerve control and the hemiplegic limb will suffer from nutritional metabolic disorders, causing the vasoconstriction and dilation functions to become dysregulated, the contraction and dilation reactions to become sluggish, and the venous blood return rate to slow down.

(3) Localized lower limb edema may be caused by venous thrombosis.

Due to the above reasons, the blood cannot return to the heart quickly, and the amount of blood stagnant in the veins increases. The pressure in the venous lumen also increases. The liquid is easily squeezed out of the blood vessel wall and retained in the tissue gap, thus causing swelling. For mild limb swelling, by improving conditions and allowing venous blood to flow back to the heart as quickly as possible, the edema will disappear quickly and will not cause major harm. On the contrary, if edema stays in the tissue for too long, the protein components in it will deposit and turn into fibrous tissue. If this lesion occurs around a joint, ankylosis and contracture may occur. Therefore, limb swelling should be treated actively. First of all, passive exercise and massage of the affected limb should be performed frequently. Through massage, kneading, pinching, pressing and other techniques, the active muscle movement is replaced to squeeze the veins, promote venous return, improve microcirculation, and correct the nutritional metabolic disorders of the affected limb. Secondly, pay attention to raising the position of the affected limb. When sitting, use a bracket or other support to raise the forearm, or place it on the armrest of the chair. When lying down, the affected lower limb should be elevated by 10-20 cm to reduce the impact of gravity on perfusion, promote venous blood return, and reduce swelling of the affected limb.