Category Archives: Cerebral Palsy Treatment

Cerebral palsy is incurable, but there are therapies available that can make life easier and more productive. There is no cerebral palsy therapy that works on every patient. Each case is unique and therefore will require different types of cerebral palsy treatment, from physical therapy to exercise to BOTOX injections. A physician must work together with a team of health care professionals to determine the proper course of cerebral palsy treatment. The cerebral palsy treatment team should be composed of health care experts from various backgrounds. Members should include the following health care professionals: The aim of physical therapy is three-fold. First, the therapist seeks to avoid muscle atrophy. Muscle atrophy is the deterioration of muscular tissue from lack of use. The second goal is too avoid muscle contracture. Contracture occurs when muscles become frozen in an abnormal position. Third, a therapist will seek to improve the motor skills of a cerebral palsy patient. The physical therapy will include a cerebral palsy exercise program designed to improve the child's condition. This type of therapy utilizes psychological techniques to improve physical, mental, and communicative skills. The activities used vary greatly according to age and disability. Some will be used to discourage … Continue reading →

healthsection Health Topics A-Z Healthy Living Featured Conditions eHow Now eHow Health Conditions & Treatments Disabilities Treatment for Cerebral Palsy Contributing Writer Social Work Cerebral palsy is a disorder rooted in damage to the cerebrum that results in various degrees of poor muscle tone and control. Physical, occupational and speech therapy are used to enhance individual functioning and quality of life. Additionally, medications, adaptive equipment and surgeries may be used as a treatment option depending on the severity of the cerebral palsy and each person's individual needs. Cerebral palsy is a life-long disorder caused by damage to the brain's cerebrum incurred before birth or during the first years of life. This damage can happen through infections both before and after birth, brain injury received during the birthing process, or a traumatic brain injury in an infant or very young child. People with cerebral palsy experience various degrees of irregular muscle tone and lack of muscular control due to the area of the brain that is damaged and may have various other physical and developmental delays associated with the disorder. Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common form of the disorder, characterized by hypertonia, or tightness in muscles. All or part … Continue reading →

Following your childs interdisciplinary assessment, the professionals providing care for your child will develop recommendations for treatment and therapy of his or her Cerebral Palsy. Many treatments are available to help a child function at the highest level possible. Although many treatments for Cerebral Palsy are available, we will touch upon a few of the most basic approaches used today to help children achieve their optimal level of functioning. Since no two children are affected by Cerebral Palsy in exactly the same way, individual treatment and therapy programs vary widely. But because all children with Cerebral Palsy have movement problems, you can expect that an important component of your childs Cerebral Palsy treatment will be a therapeutic exercise program. Depending on your childs needs, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a speech-language pathologist will work with your child to help him or her improve posture and movement. At first, your child will likely see his or her therapist quite often, sometimes at least twice a week. As your child grows, he or she may need a less intensive therapy program. The therapists will probably expect you to work on the childs movement skills at home, and will train you … Continue reading →

Children with cerebral palsy have problems with muscle tone, affecting their ability to keep their balance, posture, and to walk and move. Unlike other medical conditions that can affect a child's ability to move or walk, with cerebral palsy, the problem isn't in the child's muscles or nerves. Instead, damage to the child's brain affects his ability to control his muscles. Some common causes of cerebral palsy include: Prematurity, while it does not cause cerebral palsy, is sometimes associated with the condition, as premature babies are often at risk for many of the problems that do. Keep in mind that most experts now believe that very few cases of cerebral palsy are actually caused by a lack of oxygen during labor and delivery. Cerebral palsy symptoms that you may notice, and that you should look for if you are concerned that your baby may have cerebral palsy, include: Cerebral palsy symptoms don't worsen with age, but symptoms can range from mild to severe. For example, a child with very mild cerebral palsy may just have problems running, while another with more severe symptoms may need a wheelchair. Children with cerebral palsy can also have feeding problems, mental retardation, seizures, learning … Continue reading →

What is the Treatment for Cerebral Palsy? Although the brain injury that causes cerebral palsy cannot be healed, the resulting physical impairment can be managed with a wide range of treatments and therapies. Each childs impairment is unique and therefore no universal treatment for cerebral palsy exists. Instead, individuals with cerebral palsy are independently assessed and treated for their unique needs. While therapy and adaptive equipment are the primary treatment for cerebral palsy, a child may also require drug therapy and surgical interventions. Some families, with caution and physician guidance, turn to complementary and alternative medicine for additional assistance. Although each medical specialist may have specific care goals related to their specialty, the overriding treatment goal for those with cerebral palsy is to: Common conventional methods of treatment, complementary and alternative methods of treatment, and a comprehensive treatment plan process are detailed below: Need more information on the treatment of cerebral palsy? Call 800-692-4453. Request MyChild Kit No. 325 Introduction to the Treatment of Cerebral Palsy The childs physical impairment is considered his or her primary condition. The primary physical impairment may involve challenges with muscle tone, reflexes, posture, balance, fine motor functioning, gross motor functioning and oral motor functioning. … Continue reading →

It has been brought to my attention that there has been some criticism to the video posted when I received stem cell treatment with Dr. Steenblock at the age sixteen. After I received the treatment, the stem cells helped almost immediately. I could feel my toes and was able to move them which I never could. It was truly an amazing experience to be able to move a part of my body that I was never able to move before. I was able to walk heel to toe for the first time in my life. My brain could tell my right hand to make a fist and it would. The stem cells were more active immediately after the treatment. Now, three years later I am nineteen years old and a sophomore in college. I have not done any sort of therapy for my right side, I can still make a fist and wiggle my toes but it is harder for me to do because I havent been constantly working with it. The best thing that came from this experience though was the relaxation in my right hand. Before I did this treatment with Dr. Steenblock, my hand was spastic and … Continue reading →

acquired cerebral palsy cerebral palsy that occurs as a result of injury to the brain after birth or during early childhood. Apgar score a numbered scoring system doctors use to assess a baby's physical state at the time of birth. asphyxia a lack of oxygen due to trouble with breathing or poor oxygen supply in the air. ataxia the loss of muscle control. athetoid making slow, sinuous, involuntary, writhing movements, especially with the hands. bilirubin a bile pigment produced by the liver of the human body as a byproduct of digestion. bisphosphonates a family of drugs that strengthen bones and reduce the risk of bone fracture in elderly adults. botulinum toxin a drug commonly used to relax spastic muscles; it blocks the release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that energizes muscle tissue. cerebral relating to the two hemispheres of the human brain. cerebral dysgenesis defective brain development. Here is the original post: Cerebral Palsy: Hope Through Research: National Institute of ... … Continue reading →

What Brought Us Together Originally started by a group of families whose children developed cerebral palsy (CP) due to medical errors and birth injuries, our mission has grown to encompass so much more! Whether your childs CP was the result of a medical error or had some other cause, youll find a wealth of information and encouragement on our pages. We want to thank theMyAdvocateslegal and medical team for helping us uncover the causes of our childrens CP and for providing support for our website and mission. Every child is a gift, but raising a child with cerebral palsy is a special challenge and unique responsibility. Weve created this online community to share resources, news, and support with other families raising children with CP. Do you have a favorite cerebral palsy medical or legal resource or an inspirational story youd like to share? We encourage submissions and feedback from the community. By connecting with other families and sharing what works, we help better the lives of all of our CP kids. Welcome to our family! Read more from the original source: Cerebral Palsy Resources - Birth Injury Information - Cerebral ... … Continue reading →

The term cerebral palsy refers to any one of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but dont worsen over time.Even though cerebral palsy affects muscle movement, it isnt caused by problems in the muscles or nerves. It is caused by abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movements. The majority of children with cerebral palsy are born with it, although it may not be detected until months or years later.The early signs of cerebral palsy usually appear before a child reaches 3 years of age. The most common are a lack of muscle coordination when performing voluntary movements (ataxia); stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity); walking with one foot or leg dragging; walking on the toes, a crouched gait, or a scissored gait; and muscle tone that is either too stiff or too floppy. A small number of children have cerebral palsy as the result of brain damage in the first few months or years of life, brain infections such as bacterial meningitis or viral encephalitis, or head injury from a motor vehicle accident, a fall, or child abuse. Cerebral palsy cant … Continue reading →

Signs of Cerebral Palsy Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stppler, MD Medical Editor: Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD Cerebral palsy literally means brain paralysis. This term is somewhat of a misnomer and was coined over a hundred years ago to refer to a group of patients with abnormalities in movement and posture that occur from infancy and persist throughout life. Rather than one disease, cerebral palsy represents a widely variable spectrum of conditions, all of which have in common a disruption of normal brain function and development during pregnancy, birth, or early infancy. An important point about cerebral palsy is that the dysfunction is nonprogressive, meaning the condition remains stable but does not worsen over time, in contrast to other neurological abnormalities that may become progressively more severe over time. The hallmark signs of cerebral palsy are disturbances of movement and/or posture. These symptoms are usually noticed in individuals between the ages of 3 months to about 2 years old. This can manifest in infants as abnormal muscle tone (either too relaxed or too rigid), changes in resistance to passive movement of the body (either too much or too little resistance), poor crawling, and failure to meet appropriate developmental milestones (such … Continue reading →