1. Numbness
An individual may experience sudden numbness in the face or decreased sensation in the feet, hands, legs, arms, or other extremities. This numbness may also feel like a tingling sensation. It’s also common for a cerebrovascular accident to cause numbness on one side of the body, including trouble lifting an arm or leg and face drooping. This means that the other side of the body remains fully functional.
This is because each brain hemisphere controls the opposite half of the body. For instance, if someone has a stroke in the left half of their brain, they may experience numbness on the right side of their face.
When noticing someone who feels numbness in their body, one may see them constantly massaging, touching, or shaking the numb areas.
2. Confusion
Another early sign of cerebrovascular accidents is confusion. An individual may be unable to understand what is going on or lose their ability to think clearly and speak (slurred speech is quite common).
When observing someone dealing with such confusion, one may see a puzzled look on their face, indicating that they are having trouble understanding speech, focusing, or making decisions.
