Pediatric cerebral palsy, also known as infantile cerebral palsy, is a persistent central motor and postural developmental disorder and restricted mobility syndrome, mainly caused by non progressive brain damage in developing fetuses or infants (premature birth, hypoxia and asphyxia, jaundice, trauma, infection, etc.). Often manifested as abnormal movement and posture, often combined with intellectual disability, speech and language disorders, visual, auditory, and tactile impairments, and in severe cases, secondary epilepsy and muscle and bone problems.
The early abnormalities of cerebral palsy in children can be easily detected by careful observation. Early symptoms mainly include: children who are 2-3 months old cannot lift their heads, cannot clench their fists to grab things, cannot turn over at 4-5 months, cannot sit alone at 7-8 months old, and cannot learn to stand when they are almost one year old. Their development is significantly lagging behind that of ordinary children. It is easy to wake up and feel restless while sleeping, with weak sucking when breastfeeding, and sometimes difficulty swallowing and spitting out milk. When lifting a child, it was found that the toes were facing downwards, like a ballet posture, and even strange postures such as crossing and scissor legs appeared. If there are the above symptoms, parents should pay attention in a timely manner and take their children to the hospital for examination to determine the condition and improve as soon as possible.
The occurrence of cerebral palsy in children is undoubtedly a big problem, which poses great harm to their healthy development. So, how can we prevent cerebral palsy in children?
1. Pregnant women should undergo regular check ups after pregnancy to eliminate risks. If hypertension, diabetes, virus infection and other diseases are found during the examination, timely intervention and treatment should be carried out to ensure the health of the child, and at the same time, premature delivery should be prevented, and the baby should be prepared in advance.
2. If a baby experiences suffocation or severe jaundice after birth, necessary monitoring and treatment should be carried out in a timely manner, such as oxygen inhalation and entering a thermos. Infants with brain injuries should have follow-up visits and regular screening.
3. Educate parents and popularize the early symptoms of infant brain injury, and seek timely treatment once discovered.
4. Encourage breastfeeding, timely vaccination of infants with 1, 2, and 3 doses of vaccine, as well as immunization against poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, and rubella.
5. When a child shows obvious developmental abnormalities, such as delayed motor development, delayed language pronunciation, or muscles that are too soft or hard, it should be taken seriously and promptly checked at the hospital.
For the treatment of cerebral palsy in children, early intervention therapy is recommended. Because during the development of children, the brain tissue is not yet fully developed, and the baby's brain is in a rapid developmental stage after birth. According to scientific statistics, the baby's brain begins to develop from the embryonic stage and is already 25% of the adult brain weight at birth. Within the following year, the brain grows the fastest, equivalent to 75% of the adult brain weight at the age of 3. So early treatment of cerebral palsy in children is necessary to ensure their normal development and reduce the occurrence of complications. The common treatment measures include the following:
1. Exercise therapy
This therapy is mainly aimed at improving the child's own motor sensory disorders. Through some standardized guidance, it suppresses the abnormal neural reflex behavior, that is, suppresses abnormal posture and movement, and promotes normal nerve and muscle communication training. So as to help children establish correct awareness, develop good habits, and ensure the soundness of their developmental functions. The main types of training include active and passive movements.
2. Physical therapy.
Apply physics knowledge to combine therapy, such as light, electricity, sound, magnetism, thermodynamics, etc. for intervention and guidance.
3. Homework therapy.
This therapy can promote the recovery of mechanical disorders by cultivating the child's hands-on ability. At this point, children are not only passively receiving treatment, but also self regulating and correcting through subjective consciousness. At the same time, it can also help children develop good habits of independent hands-on.
4. Language therapy.
Language therapy is not simply about exercising children's ability to speak independently, but through this method, it strengthens the exercise of the tongue, improves breathing techniques, exercises pronunciation, and exercises refusal and swallowing skills. So as to comprehensively improve the expression ability of the child.
5. Drug therapy.
Both Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine have their own treatment strategies. Western medicine mainly selects drugs that can nourish cells and improve their own metabolism. Traditional Chinese medicine will be treated through syndrome differentiation, selecting drugs that awaken the brain, invigorate the meridians, and tonify the kidneys and spleen for comprehensive improvement.
6. Traditional therapies.
For example, massage, acupuncture and moxibustion, medicine bath, channel dredging, etc. By stimulating acupoints in the language, balance, and motor areas of the affected child, improvement can be achieved. Commonly used acupoints include Waiguan, Quchi, Hegu, Sanyinjiao, etc.
In summary, the occurrence of cerebral palsy in children is not accidental, and parents must prevent it as early as possible. Once diagnosed, they should promptly take their children for treatment. Don't panic too much, after reasonable treatment and active improvement, there will generally be good therapeutic effects!