Knowledge
Stroke may cause loss or change of feeling in the face, arm or leg. Some examples include: numbness, pins and needles, burning, area feeling ‘dead’. This may mean that some individuals are not able to feel pain or extremes of temperature on the affected parts of their body. However it is important to be aware that change/altered feeling can present as pain. For more learning on pain management in stroke visit: STARs Advancing Module14.
Skills
To know (or at least know how to find out) whether individuals have such difficulties. Staff should be able to ensure that the individual does not sustain injury due to loss of feeling – for instance, by providing padding to stop accidental injury or by testing the temperature of bath water or drinks.
Benefits to the individual
Individuals are less likely to sustain injury (e.g. burns from scalding water or bruises from bed rails).
Page last reviewed: 02 Feb 2022
