Overview
A collection of disorders known as cerebral palsy impacts posture and movement. It is brought on by harm done to the developing brain, usually before birth.
The symptoms, which range from extremely minor to severe, first manifest in infancy or the preschool years. Reflexes in children with cerebral palsy may be heightened. The arms, legs, and trunk can look floppy. They might also have spasticity, which is characterized by rigid muscles. Unstable posture, uncontrollable movements, and an unsteady gait are further symptoms.
Swallowing may be difficult for those with cerebral palsy. Additionally, it may result in ocular muscle imbalance, which causes the eyes to focus on different objects. Muscle stiffness may cause people with the disorder to have less joint range of motion.
Individual differences exist in the causes of cerebral palsy and how it affects function. While some individuals with cerebral palsy can walk, others require help. While some people are intellectually disabled, others are not. Some individuals with cerebral palsy may also have epilepsy, blindness, or deafness. Although there isn’t a cure, there are therapies that can help. Although a child’s cerebral palsy symptoms may change as they grow, the condition doesn’t worsen. Over time, the condition usually remains constant.
Types
Three primary categories of CP exist:
Spastic
This kind includes spasms and stiffness in the muscles.
Dyskinetic
This category includes problems controlling muscles.
Features of both the dyskinetic and spastic types are present in the mixed type.
Experts also categorize CP subtypes according to patterns that indicate which body parts are most affected. These tendencies are:
- Diplegia means that your arms are more affected than your legs.
- quadriplegic, meaning that all of your limbs are affected.
- Hemiplegic means that one side of the body—the left or right—is more affected than the other.
- One limb is affected by monoplegia.
- Your legs are affected by paraplegia.
What signs & Symptoms of cerebral palsy are present?
The signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy can vary widely.
- Nonmovement symptoms and indicators include, for instance:
- Disparities in head size might include microcephaly, which is an abnormally tiny head, and macrocephaly, which is an abnormally large head.
- Irritability: Babies with cerebral palsy may often appear fussy or irritable.
- Lack of interaction: Children and babies with cerebral palsy may not respond to others.
- A lack of muscular tone, or hypotonia, causes affected body parts to appear “floppy.” This condition typically occurs early on and progresses to spasticity or dystonia.
- Developmental delays: Children with cerebral palsy frequently experience delays in meeting some anticipated developmental milestones. While many of these require movement, other skills may also be required.
Diagnosis and screening
Early CP diagnosis is crucial for children’s and their families’ wellbeing. Several steps can be used to diagnose CP:
Monitoring of development
Monitoring a child’s growth and development over time is known as developmental monitoring, or surveillance. A developmental screening test should be administered as soon as feasible if any concerns regarding the child’s development are brought up during monitoring.
Screening for development
A brief test is administered during developmental screening to determine whether the child has particular developmental impairments, such as motor or movement delays. The doctor will recommend patients for developmental and medical examinations if the screening test findings are concerning.
Cerebral palsy treatments
Cerebral palsy has no known cure, however, some therapies can help those who have it be as active and self-sufficient as possible.
Among the treatments are:
- Exercise and stretching are two methods used in physiotherapy to assist in preserving physical capacity and, ideally, alleviate mobility issues.
- Speech therapy to address issues with swallowing, speech, and communication
- In occupational therapy, a therapist finds issues that you or your kid experience doing daily chores and offers solutions to make them simpler.
- medication to alleviate muscle stiffness and other issues, or surgery to address issues with growth or mobility
- A group of medical experts will collaborate with you to develop a treatment strategy that suits your requirements and those of your child.