Why would a Stroke patient have mouth Open all the time?

@kimmsd Hello, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am going to provide you with an educated guess. on why your friend's mouth is open all of the time. Depending on the location of the stroke in your friend's brain it is likely that the muscles that would allow her to open and close her mouth are no longer working voluntarily. What that means is the messages from her brain have been affected by the stroke. You can think of this way. Some people who have had a stroke have weakness or paralysis of their right arm and cannot write (if they are right-handed). That means that the location in the location in the person's brain that sends messages to the nerves and muscles in the right arm has been affected by the stroke.

The second question about why your friend is refusing to eat is more complex. It could be a problem with chewing and swallowing also affected by the stroke. Or it could be that the stroke has affected her appetite. This is a question to ask her doctor.

Are these problems common? It's difficult to say because strokes affect the brain in different ways however I have seen these problems in people who have had strokes.

You are a good friend to ask these questions. Are you wondering how you can help? You are visiting your friend and your presence is a comfort to her. Whether or not she understands you when you talk with her she will hear your soothing voice. So, please do talk with her about any memories you share together. If she is comfortable with your touch you can put your hand on her hand or her arm. I did this with people I was close to and I could tell by the expression on their face that they felt relaxed and comfortable when I put my hand on their hand.

Is your friend's brother in contact with her doctor? Can you get your questions answered by her brother?

I was a little slack-jawed, even years after my stroke. I never really noticed it until I started making YouTube videos about my recovery journey. I had to do a lot of re-takes because I noticed when the camera came on, I looked like Gomer Pyle. https://www.youtube.com/@srlucado/videos

I started doing mouth exercises, including reading aloud, and I got better pretty quickly. But if I don't keep it up, my lower-right lip will start sagging. Sometimes I'll drool like a bulldog. Gross.