Cerebral Palsy is an umbrella of non-progressive neurological conditions that arise from an injury to the brain. Patients with cerebral palsy show developmental delays or mental health conditions, abnormal alignment of joints due to muscle spasticity. This ultimately leads to painful degenerative bone disease. For cerebral palsy, physiotherapy along with cell therapy helps in managing the dire symptoms for a long time.
Children with Cerebral Palsy have communication and learning disabilities, abnormal muscle tone, spasticity, ataxic, dystonia, dyskinetic, athetosis, and problems such as joint contractures and hip dislocation. Physical therapy or physiotherapy helps to lessen the joint pain, muscle stiffness, improve movement and issues like stiffened muscles.
How Does Physiotherapy Help?
For people with cerebral palsy physiotherapy helps to improve motor skills and prevent other motor problems from getting worse. Through proper exercises, heat treatment, massages, pressure and equipment, a physiotherapist help patients with cerebral palsy to enjoy enhanced independence. In severe cases, physiotherapy works best alongside other therapies to give patients the best chance to improve their abilities.
A physiotherapist makes a treatment plan according to the movement issues of patients. These movement issues of cerebral palsy are limited to:
- One half of the body (hemiplegia)
- The legs (diplegia)
- All four limbs (quadriplegia)
Therapists prescribe special exercises for each of the above issues to regain movement in the affected areas.
Exercises For Various Cerebral Palsy Types –
Physiotherapy has specific benefits for various cerebral palsy types which include:
- Spastic: For spastic cerebral palsy, physiotherapy reduces muscle tension and bouncy movements with exercises, such as stretching, to relieve joint and muscle stiffness.
- Ataxic: For patients with ataxic type of cerebral palsy, physiotherapy improves body posture and balance through apt exercises.
- Dyskinetic: For people with dyskinetic type of cerebral palsy, physiotherapy increases the muscle tone.
Physiotherapists involve mobility aids or orthotic equipment such as braces, splints, casts, and shoe-inserts to help walking, better posture and joint mobility in patients.
Physiotherapist
For cerebral palsy physiotherapy is different for every child and adult. A Physiotherapist has a vast experience in understanding the special needs of children and creates a treatment plan after physical evaluation. They look for specific postures and physical activities that need to be corrected. They develop a physical therapy plan which involves muscle relaxing techniques and exercises to improve their balance and movement. The time taken to treat each patient depends on the severity of his/her condition.
Benefits Of Physiotherapy
Apart from improving mobility and keeping the body strong and flexible, physiotherapy prevents issues such as contractures and joint dislocations. Children with cerebral palsy also sense an increased level of independence.
Thus physiotherapy improve:
- Balance
- Strength
- Flexibility
- Coordination
- Stamina
- Posture
- Gait
- Overall health
- Confidence
Thus, physiotherapy for cerebral palsy helps a child to develop both physically and emotionally.
