Category Archives: Health

Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip

Developmental dysplasia in the hip is the anatomical abnormalities of the hip joints in which the head of the femoral bone shows an abnormal relationship with the acetabulum. It includes several risk factors like first born status, female sex, positive family history breech presentation and oligohydraminos. Clinical presentations of the developmental dysplasia of hip depend on the age of the child. Generally it has been found that children born with hip disability, hip instability infants having limited to hip abduction on examination and older children with limping, joint pain and even sometimes osteoarthritis. Repeated careful testing of the children after the birth till their growing process should be continued. It can also include the provocative testing. Other similar symptoms that are visible in normal eye includes shorting in length of the femur with hips and knees flexed, asymmetry of the gluteal or thigh bones and discrepancy of leg lengths in potential clues. Treatment are mainly dependent on age presentations and outcomes are much better when the child is treated early particularly during the six months of age.

The Right Way to Diagnose and Treat Dysplasia of the Hip:

The term of development of dysplasia of the hip has replaced the congenital dislocation of the hip as it describes the full range of abnormalities affecting the immature hip more accurately. In some children the normal femora- acetabular relationship can be seen during the birth but latter on dysplasia or abnormalities are observed latter on.

It can be well defined as any kind of deformity in the shape, size or the orientation of the femoral head, acetabulum or both is often referred as dysplasia. It has been seen that majority of the abnormalities result due to maldevelopment of the acetabulum. The problem of femoral head is a secondary concern that results in non-physiological biomechanics from the anteverted acetabulum or as a result of treatment.  The instability of the hip occurs when it fits tight between the femoral head and the acetabulum is lost and the femoral head is able to move within or outside those confines the acetabulum. Generally the dislocated hip has no contact in between articular faces of the femoral head and the acetabulum. Generally the dislocated hip has no contact of the femoral head and the acetabulum. Teratology dislocation generally shows marked difference in the hip joint at the time of birth. It also includes other malfunctions such as spina bifida, arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, lumbosacral agenesis, chromosomal abnormalities, diastrophic dwarfism, Larsen syndrome and other rare syndromes.

Epidermology

The incidence of the developmental dysplasia of hip is really difficult to monitor because of the discrepancy in definition of the condition, type of examination used and different levels of skills of clinicians. The range of incidence includes as low as 1000 to as high as 34 per 1000. During ultrasound high incidences are reported which are also used in clinical examination. Several risk factors including first born status, female sex positive or not, family history, breech presentation and oligohydramnios.

Etiology

The several causes of the Developmental Dysplasia are multi factorial in nature. There are certain factors that lead to the development of dysplasia in hip which includes the ligament laxity, postnatal positioning and primary acetabular dysplasia. Hereditary ligament laxity and other neuropediatric disorders with an abnormal muscle tension, such as cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele and arthrogryposis, are the major factors for the inheritance of developmental dysplasia of hip. It also increased incidence of developmental dysplasia of hip in identical twins as compared to fraternal twins. It also suggests several genetic influences. Female new-borns are more prone to develop developmental dysplasia of hip. This is because as they respond to maternal relaxing hormones which may cross the placenta and induce laxity.

 It may also happen that intrauterine crowding also affects the developing hip in the placenta. There evolves the increased incidence of developmental dysplasia in hip in infants who are born in breech presentation, most notably when the knees are extended. There are 9 other factors which include first born child and oligohydramnios. In addition, postnatal positioning also plays a role in the development of developmental dysplasia in hip. A very high incidence of developmental dysplasia of hip is reported in babies wrapped with the hip in extended position. It is as compared to the babies wrapped in flexed and abducted position. Also, a permanent supine position of new-borns which can reduce the risk of sudden infant death seems to increase the risk of developmental dysplasia in hip.

Diagonosis

A careful clinical examination should be carried out on all new-born children especially those with risk factors for developmental dysplasia in hip.  For the purpose of examination of an older child also includes careful assessment of extremities for asymmetric skin folds or leg length discrepancy in case of unilateral hip dislocation. A positive Galeazzi sign is another indicator of hip dislocation. It is depicted by laying the child supine and flexing both hips and knees. It also provides positive sign is indicated by an inequality in the height of the knees. Certain limited abduction may be particularly helpful in diagnosing children with bilateral hip dislocation because the Galeazzi sign will be negative. The maximal abduction of hips should be greater than 60°.In neglected cases, developmental dysplasia in hip may be diagnosed when children approach walking age with a limp on the affected side (positive Trendelenberg’s sign) and hyperlordosis.

Management

The treatment of developmental dysplasia of hip is age-related.  It is the goal is to achieve and maintain concentric reduction of the femoral head into the acetabulum. The best outcome can be expected only if the treatment is started at a very early age. This has been achieved in the developed world through improved awareness and training. The increased surveillance (use of ultrasonography), and quicker access to paediatric orthopaedic surgeons including 21 of them. It must be noted that there are very few specialized paediatric orthopaedic surgeons in the developing world, and fellowship programs for paediatric orthopaedic surgery should be initiated to cater the needs and requirement.  Therefore this in addition to the myriad of other paediatric orthopaedic conditions.

Cold Weather Dangers for Kids: How to keep them Safe

The most vulnerable population during the winter seasons is the young children, the older adults and the people who are chronically ill. The bitter and freezing temperatures pose a high risks for illness as well as major injury for everyone.

How to Keep Child Safe from Common Outdoor Games Injuries?

The common ones are:

Colds and flu

According to many researches the adults gets at an average of three colds a year and every 1 out of 5 adults suffers from flu. Though cold and flu are not only specific to the winter months only, but they are much more prevalent during the winters. It has been suggested by one of the Welsh studies that the cold temperatures can actually lead to a cold thereby limiting the supply of infection-fighting white blood cells in the nasal passage, where the cold viruses most often takes the advantage of entering the body. Along with this the research also shows that the virus of the flu stays much more longer as it is more stable especially when the air is cold and dry.

  • Symptoms: As the symptoms of the cold and the flu are similar to each other it is very much difficult to identify the cold from flu. When the cold sets in it is susceptible for you to fee a dry with scratchy sore throat, along with headache and sneezing, with runny nose, chills, and watery eyes thereby leading to fever. After this the major symptoms would consists of sinus pain, a blocked nose, a cough that keeps you awake all night, loss of appetite, tiredness and muscle pains and aches. Flu symptoms are very quick which basically includes 100 degrees to 104 degrees of fever along with all the other symptoms of cold.
  • Precautions:It is very much natural for you to feel quite sick for some days but the mentioned symptoms would clear up in a week or maximum in 10 days. Mostly the people recover from the flu within a week. But it should be taken care with correct medicines and care. There is primarily no specific medicine for cold, but talking in some of the medicines would let your body fight off the virus slowly thereby curing you. Don’t opt for anti-biotic as they don’t work for viruses and can have major side effects. For flu a flu shot is enough for your body to fight the virus, but on the other hand the recommendation of zanamivir (Relenza) an inhaled drug can be taken for people from 7 to the older age.

Frostbite

Frostbite are liable to cause a loss of feeling and color especially when it is in the affected areas, such as the nose or in the ears or it can also happen in the cheeks, chin, fingers or even on the toes as well. Frostbite may be termed to be a dangerous thing. It is because it can permanently and completely damage the body tissues and even the severe cases can lead to amputation. The risk of frostbite is specially increased in people who have a reduced blood circulation and it again happens when people expose themselves to the cold weather by not dressing in a proper manner.

  • Symptoms: The major signs of frostbite actually include a reduced blood flow towards the feet and the hands which may lead to the freezing of the fingers and toes along with numbness, tingling or stinging, aching, and bluish or pail, waxy skin.
  • Precautions: In order to prevent frostbite you must wear warm clothes, and dresses which have layers, especially when you are outdoor for a considerable good amount of time and always keep your clothes dry because wet clothes increases the chances of heat loss. When you are feeling the symptoms of frostbite, you must enter into a warm room as soon as possible. You must immerse the affected area in warm water. Don’t massage that area which may cause damage. Please avoid using a heating pad, or even a heated lamp, or the stove heat, being in front of the fireplace, or a radiator for warming since the affected areas are insensible and has an easy chance of getting burned.

When there is a drop in the temperature, children require extra attention and care. Some of the tips to protect the children are:

  1. Use Thick layers:The children must be covered with many layers of clothing and you must make sure that your child is well covered in the areas of head, neck and hands.
  2. Beware of clothing hazards:You must be very careful about the scarves and hood strings which can strangle smaller children.
  3. Check in on warmth:You must tell your children to go inside in case they are wet of feeling cold. Then protect them with all the necessary stuffs like giving them warm food and changing their clothes with warm ones.
  4. Use sunscreen:Children along with the adults can get sunburn in winter as well. Hence apply sunscreen.
  5. Install necessary alarms:The household fires mostly happen during the winters. Hence make sure of having smoke and carbon monoxide alarms at your home.
  6. Get well equipped:You must be aware whether your child is wearing helmets during snowboarding, skiing, sledding or playing ice hockey. Any kind of sports equipment should be well and professionally fitted.
  7. Teach normal technique:Make sure your children know all the techniques of the winter fun activities and teach them the same.
  8. Prevent nosebleeds: In case the child suffers from winter nosebleeds in a minor way, use the cold humidifier in their room. Keep their nose moist by saline nose drops.
  9. Keep them in a hydrated manner:Try to keep your child hydrated by giving those warm drinks or soups etc. as in winter the kids lose more water through their breath.
  10. Watch for all the danger signs:The signs of frostbite are grey, pale or blistered skin especially in the areas of ears and nose. Keep your child indoors if you think they are suffering from frostbite and put the affected area in warm water. Call for the hospital if necessary.

Contented by: Kidsorthopedic.com

Symptoms and Signs of Bone, Joint, and Muscle Infections in Children

A child with bone, joint and muscle infections needs to be cured fast as he or she is still developing. The pediatric orthopedic injuries are more susceptible to different musculoskeletal infections. The injuries that are caused due to sports in young children can affect the growing bones, joints and muscles. This in result can affect the child in future growth. Therefore correct treatments should be provided to those children to avoid infections due to any problems like angular abnormalities, abnormal limb lengths in the future.

In some cases, it can be seen that there are several complex orthopedic conditions in children like uneven limb lengths, scoliosis, cerebral palsy, congenital hip dysplasia and spina bifida which can also cause several orthopedic infections if not treated properly in time. These are some injuries and infections in bones, joints and muscles which can be seen from birth only and so emergency treatment is needed. These are some surgeries which are to be done by dedicated pediatric specialists as the future of the child depends on such complicated surgeries. There are different foot and ankle injuries like clubfeet, flat feet, etc. that can be seen in children. These treatments are also to be done very carefully.

The bone, joint and muscle infections are also known as Osteomyelitis, Septic arthritis and Pyomyositis respectively. These infections cause inflammation in the bones, joints and muscles. Osteomyelitis is the result of bacterial infection in bones. Septic arthritis occurs due to joint infections and muscle infection results in Pyomyositis. The bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus causes staph infection in children and the infection is carried to the bones, muscles and joints through the blood. After leaving the blood stream, the bacteria multiply in the tissues of bones, muscles and joints. These bone infections occur in children as well as adolescents in the long bones of arms and legs. These bone, muscle and joint infections should be treated in proper time and should not be kept untreated as they can cause severe problems like abscesses or pockets of the infected pus, destruction in the bones and muscles, infections in the joints and disability or deformation of the bones, muscles and joints.

The children with infections in their bones, joints and muscles have different symptoms and signs. They are:

  • Pain in the affected area
  • Movements of the affected or infected area get reduced and if there is any infection in leg or back then the child with infections feels not to walk more or may limp due to pain
  • Fever due to infections
  • Infections in infants cause vomiting, irritable and lethargic situations and refuse to have food or eat.

There are many children who suffer from bone, muscle and joint infections after a long time of injury. The injuries in some areas of body can also be the symptoms of infections in muscles or bones or joints. Sometimes parents think that these injuries will get cured with time and it can be dangerous if infections from such injuries are noticed after a longer time. Therefore it is very important to take a child to the specialized doctors if some injuries cannot be resolved at home by the parents.

The children who are suffering from orthopedic infections should be taken to pediatric orthopedics in the pediatric center for proper treatment and quick recovery. The pediatric orthopedics needs to know the medical history of the child from the parents. The doctors may do some physical examination of the painful area to know about the pain of the child during movements. Some tests like blood tests and tissue cultures including tests of blood tissue and blood fluid for identifying the bacteria and other infected organisms that cause the infections and imaging tests like ultrasound, x-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are to be done for the diagnosis of the infections.

The diagnosis of the infections and injury are very important at the first stage. So selection for an experienced and specialized pediatric orthopedic is very necessary for treatment of the injuries. The housekeeping staffs in the pediatric center should be well trained about how to behave and talk with the children. It is necessary to select the best reputed hospital for the treatment of a child. There should be presence of all rooms starting from the emergency center and operating theatre rooms to general rooms for treatment of pediatrics.

In case of mild infections, antibiotic treatment is enough for resolving the problems. The antibiotics can be given through intravenous, oral routes and PICC line by using a special intravenous device known as PICC. It takes a time of 4 to 6 weeks for resolving the bone infections and a time of 3 to 4 weeks for curing the muscles and joints infections. But in some cases, surgical treatment is necessary as to remove the pus or infected part from the infectious area. Such surgeries will make the blood flow properly by reducing inflammation and pressure and then the child can able to take antibiotics intravenously for resolving the infections.

The pediatric units are designed in a childish manner like cartoons should be painted in walls and different cartoon wallpapers should be pasted in the room which give delightful feelings to the children. Spaces should be present for accommodation of parents. A play room is to be attached with the unit which will help the injured child to cure fast. There should be proper security in those units. The patients should be given printed pediatric gowns having light colors like pink, light blue, light yellow that the kids will love. All these will keep the children a far away from fears.

The bone, muscle and joint infections can be cured by proper treatment in time with some basic needs along with medications. The basic needs of pediatric orthopedic patients do not meet with only quality medications but also with lovable behaviors from each person starting from the specialized doctors, pharmacists and nurses to the staffs, securities and others in the center along with nutritious food and drinks. These are very essential for pediatric orthopedic patients to heal out the pains fast by physically as well as mentally means.

Contented by: www.kidsorthopedic.com.

Your Kid is ‘Toe-Walking’: Should you worry?

Firstly what is meant by ‘Toe-walking’? It is basically a condition where your kid walks on his or her toes or rather to be precise on the balls of their feet. It is not always considered to be an orthopaedic condition which needs treat however you should always be careful. When kids start walking, parents wish the best for them and when they see some differences or other the first thing most of them do is Panic.

But it should be kept in mind always that a child’s body is developing and care must be taken. In case there are some faults in their behaviour or anything it might not be a serious issue always, however care must be taken and faults must be brought into notice immediately. As a child grows, these faults eventually subside and they grow as physically fit individuals.

Understanding Differences between Bow Legs and Knock Knees

In case of ‘toe walking’ the situation is similar. If your kid is 2 to 3 years old and all the time he is walking on his toes, do not worry. He will soon be fine most likely. However if he is beyond 3 years then the matter needs immediate attention and you must consult a physician regarding the same.

So if your little one is toe walking, do not get panicked. First try to figure out what could possibly be the reason behind it. There are a huge number of reasons for toe walking in case of kids. They include:

  • Simple habit
  • Short Achilles tendon
  • Autism
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Idiopathic
  • Some general sensory related issues

The actual cause of ‘toe walking is yet to be known. Physicians are trying to figure that out so that a better and surer form of treatment can be found in case of this kind of conditions in case of kinds of a certain age.

If your child is above 3 years and still continues to show signs of toe walking only then you should be concerned about the points other than the first point. Otherwise the first point is the most probable reason and there is no reason for you to worry. Just a few simple stretching would do the needful.  In case of toe walking it should not be considered as a grave issue always. You should pay proper attention to your little one’s condition before you decide what action to take for it.

Sometimes as kids learn to walk they tend to walk on their toes and this starts becoming a habit for them which they continue to practice till age. If it continues way beyond the age of 5 you must consult a physician and do the needful.

Treatments for ‘Toe Walking’

A number of different treatments have been developed for ‘toe walking’ in kids. They are:

  • Some basic treatments such as stretching and bending exercises for strengthening the leg muscles.
  • Using of braces to limit the movement of the legs so that the child cannot get up on their toe as and when they want.
  • Botox injections are also given. This is done in order to temporarily paralyze the calf muscles so that the child has to touch the whole foot in order to be able to balance his or her steps properly.
  • Serial casting can also be used. A number of castings are done from time to time to strengthen the heel cords.
  • Stiff and high boots are also recommended by physicians sometimes so that the child is unable to get into the habit of rising up on his toes conveniently. This compels him to walk on the whole feet at a time.

So there is no need to worry if your child has started walking on his toes. Keep a track of his movements and if this continues to go on for a long time even after the age of 3 then consult a physician. Otherwise just train your kid and convince him to use his whole feet to balance his body while walking. If your child is ‘toe walking’ it does not always mean that there are some serious issues related to it. So just relax and enjoy the moments of your child’s growth and development.

Contented by: Kids Orthopedic.

10 Tips for Treating and Preventing Common Sports Injuries for Your Kids

Today we find the young athlete’s to be bigger and stronger, but for this they have to push themselves towards a hard and struggling life beforehand. For now the kids are increasingly likely to play their chosen game throughout the year with several sport camps and structured activities. But children spending more time on the field bring greater chances of several injuries and accidents.

Although sports participation provides numerous physical and social benefits, it also has a downside several sports related injuries. In the report of statistics it has been found that out of 2.6 million children 0-19 years old are treated in emergency department for each year for sports or recreational activities.

The Most Common sports related injuries in Kids:

Sports injuries generally range from scrapes and bruises to serious brain and spinal cord and brain injuries where most fall somewhere in between the two extremes. Here let’s look forward towards the basic injuries that happen:

  1. Sprains and Strains: Sprain is basically an injury to the ligament, which connects the two or more bones at a joint and prevents excessive movement to the joint. Ankle sprain is very common for athlete injuries.

Strain usually occurs due to any sports or any event due to any kind of muscle or tendon injury. Muscle is generally composed of multiple tissues grouped together by a bundle of specialized cells when stimulated by nerve messages that causes contraction or any kind of movement. A tendon is a tough fibre that connects muscle to the bone. Muscle is any kind of important part that can be damaged very easily causing serious injuries.

  1. Growth Plate Injuries: In certain sports and injuries, the growth plate is injured many a times. Growth plate is the developing region where tissues at the end of the long bones in the growing children and the adolescent. In adolescence sometimes it’s observed after the growth is complete the growth plate is replaced by solid bone. The long bones include the :-
  • Metacarpals and phalanges(Hand)
  • Radius and ulna
  • Femur
  • Tibia and fibula
  • Metatarsal and Phalanges(Foot)

Professional consultation is very necessary if any such case of growth plate injuries happen to occur.

  1. Repetitive Motion Injuries:

Several painful injuries such as stress fractures (that we call it a hair line fracture) and tendinitis usually occur due to overuse of tendons and muscles. Often it happens that these injuries are not shown up on X rays but they do cause pain and discomfort. Injured area responds to rest, ice, compression and elevation. Other therapies include crutches, cast immobilization and physical therapy.

  1. Heat Related Illness:

Heat injuries are generally injurious and fatal. This problem is more prone to children than in adults as children perspire less than adults. They require a high core body temperature to trigger sweating. Keep checking of the weather and body conditions especially during the time of rigorous games or sports events. Heat related illness include:

  • Dehydration( Loss of Body Fluids)
  • Heat exhaustion includes nausea, dizziness, weakness, headache, pale and moist skin, heavy perspiration, weak pulse, dilated pupil.
  • Heat stroke includes stroke, dizziness, and confusion, hot and dry skin and leading to vascular collapse.
  1. Shoulder Injuries: 20% of the sports injuries include dislocations, sprains and strain.
  2. Shin splits: Causes pain on the inner side of the child’s shinbone as a result of inflammation muscles that surround it.
  3. Groin Strain: This kind of strain occurs when the child suddenly changes his or her direction while running.
  4. Lower Back pain: This commonly affects children who engage in running, bicycling, golfing, tennis and baseball.
  5. Pulled Muscle: Muscles behind the thighs called the hamstrings are more commonly affected to children involve in running, such as jogging, basketball, and soccer.

Pediatric sports medicine expert provides us with 10 basic tips for treating and preventing common sport injuries for Kids to keep the young athlete more on field than to keep them on side-lines:-

  1. Talk with young Athlete: Make sure that the young athlete should understand that he or she should talk with the trainer and seek help if experiencing any kind of pain or something that does not feel right. Try to promote pain free sports and activities.
  2. Get a Preseason Physical: A preseason physical or back to school physical is a great way to determine if a young athlete is fit to play. Sports physicals help to provide any kind of access to any areas of concern for athlete’s before they start an activity. This will prevent them from further injury during the play.
  3. Encourage Cross training and a variety of sports: But it is being advisable to the kids to change their playing games or the sports that continuously put some kind of stress or strain on the same muscles and joints repeatedly. Parents should be concerned about limiting the number of teams their athlete is on a given time and changing up the routine regularly.
  4. Stress on Warming up: Stretching is an important warming up activity that should become a habit for all athletes’ to practice prior to sports. Jumping jacks and stretches keep the body fit and sound.
  5. Make sure they rest: Athletes of all ages should make sure to rest in between practices, games and events. A lack of sleep or muscle fatigue generally predispose an athlete to injury often. Common injury found in an athlete is overuse of muscles in sports and events.
  6. Healthy, well balanced diet is important: It is very much important for the athlete’s to maintain a well-balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and to maintain a regular eating schedule. For instance have the breakfast, lunch and dinner around the same time in each day.
  7. Emphasize Hydration: Heat related illness is serious concern especially to the athletes during hot and humid days. Parents should make their children having adequate amount of water prior to their child going to the field for any sport or event.
  8. Get the Proper Equipment: Protective equipment like helmet, hats, gloves shoes are very important for injury prevention. Parents should talk with the coaches prior starting of the event so that they have adequate time to prepare their child.
  9. Stress on proper techniques and guidelines: Emphasize more on the techniques and guidelines of the sports involved.
  10. Recognize Injury: It is mostly important for the parents to recognize injury and get help early and take their children out of the play.

So over viewing the tips of preventing the child from any sport injury, it is always advisable to the parents to enroll their children to a recognized sports community or centre where proper Kids health care is taken along with sport techniques.

Contented by: Kidsorthopedic.com

What Causes Babies to Born with Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy is mainly caused by brain malfunction or brain dysfunction or brain abnormalities which occur before or during or immediately after birth whiles the infants brain is under development.

So let’s look forward how a brain injury hampers or affects the child’s motor functioning and intellectual abilities which is highly dependent on the nature of brain injury, where the damage occurs and many more.

Now a question arises in our mind then;

What is brain injury, birth injury and brain malfunction?

The primary and main cause cerebral palsy is a brain injury or brain malformation that occurs during the development of the brain that is before, during or after the birth. Due to brain damage during brain development, as a result child’s muscle control, muscle co-ordination, muscle tone and reflex posture is affected and hampered. It also hampers child’s motor skills, gross motor skills and oral motor functioning.

Cerebral Palsy is unique to the individual. So the reasons behind the causes the cerebral palsy is:

Prenatal disturbance of brain cell migration: Several factors in genetic and environmental factors prevent the brain cells migration to appropriate location for brain development.

Prenatal poor myelination of developing the nerve cell fibres: Poor myelin impedes the brain function that forms a protective covering over the nerve fibre that aids in transmission.

Perinatal Brain cell death: Events in the birthing processes that ruptures the blood vessels or starve oxygen to the brain.

Inappropriate connections between brain cells:  Trauma, asphyxia or any other infections that damage connections developed in the brain.

Primary terminology causes:

Brain Development: It shortly occurs after the occurrence of conception, a rapid cell division or cell proliferation takes place from a small group of cells. The tissue strip rolls into the neutral tube, where one end develops in the brain and the other in the spinal cord. The cells form cluster and group and reaches different regions of the brain.  The brain is considered to be fully developed three to five years after birth.

Brain Defects: Irregularities in brain structure typically cause impairment.  Defects occur due to several injuries, malformation or any kind of damage. Degree of impairment is very often linked to the severity of damage. Sometimes compensation may occur to bypass the damage areas by the brain.  So for this cause early and initial treatment is very necessary.

Brain malformations: It is mainly caused due to abnormal development of the brain. Defects can occur at any time during foetal development specially the first twenty weeks which is mostly vulnerable.  Any kind of malformation that occurs during the neural tube can have very serious and permanent consequences. Brain malformation results in several underdeveloped areas, abnormal growth or improper brain division into hemispheres and lobes.

Brain Lesions: Those are defects that occur generally from an injury or disease. It causes several problems during foetal development can include bleeding in brain, infections, asphyxia and many others.  Lesions typically result from an accident or event that causes brain tissue damage and death.

Through MRI’s and CT scan report the initial and primary treatment should be done. Together this will help the doctors to treat the brain damage and diagnose the cerebral palsy. Treatment therapy and care plans are then made to help a child reach the future potential and safe treatment.

Cerebral palsy, Its Diagnosis and Proper Treatment

Brain is the main work station of the whole body. It is a vital system in the whole body that functions as a coordinating centre of various sensations and the activities of nerves. It’s because of the brain we are able to walk, talk, see, smell and feel everything. If the brain fails to perform its activities then the entire functional system in our body starts to behave in an abnormal way. Sadly and unfortunately it’s been seen that some human beings are born with poor brain development which in science is named as Cerebral Palsy (CP). Cerebral Palsy is expounded as a group of lifelong disorders of the body movement and stance that limits all the normal activities in a human being which occurs during the budding brain or new born brain.

Diagnosis based on Symptoms and how such Patients should be Cared:

It is very disheartening to find out that there is no such exact diagnosis or tests to Cerebral Palsy. Diagnosing Cerebral Palsy is pretty time consuming. Sometimes an infant may be soon diagnosed with this disease right after birth but in maximum cases the diagnosis process takes place almost for two years after birth as per symptoms.

Symptoms include:

  1. Language and speech disorder is a common symptom amongst cerebral palsy patients.
  2. People with CP have weak skeletons. They look different, thin and pale than normal human being.
  3. Disorder in sleeping habits and pain in muscles is another common symptom of CP patients.
  4. Difficulty in eating, chewing and swallowing food due to lack of sensitivity inside the oral organs.

They also lack proper hearing, sensation, vision problem.

Proper Treatment and Cure:

It is mournful to say that there exist no proper treatment to CP but surely this is somewhat preventable through various supportive medical processes. CP can partly be prevented through immunization of the child’s mother and also by staying cautious to further head injuries. CP can never be fully cured, however few supportive improved medical experiments, medicines and surgery may result as a help to individuals with CP.

  • There are few therapies such as body therapy that includes various physical exercises, therapy in proper talking habits or the way of using and applying the mouth organs for speaking to improve he communication skill of the child, seemed to help CP people. Few medications like baclofen, diazepam and botulinum toxin helps to release the stiffness in muscles.
  • Surgeries are also performed sometimes to prevent muscle contractions. Surgery includes stretching muscles and cutting down highly active nerves. In some other surgery the nerves of spinal cords are served to decrease the spasticity in legs.

 

  • Few recent mechanical invention of tools are also used to cure the victims of CP. Specially designed braces for bones that helps stretching of the muscle holding bones in definite positions that is equipped to a computer with some special internal devices and a speech machine that aids the CP individual to communicate which certainly acts helpful in a broader way.

 

  • Some other professional therapy can also assist a child to develop and perform normal activities in day to day life.

 

  • Unique educational programmes that are specially framed to help individuals with disabilities in normal learning and for those who are mentally retarded. Counselling is also done in some cases to accustom the CP child with the normal habitats of the natural surroundings and also provide mental support to the family that is dealing with such condition.

 

Though the rate of victims of Cerebral Palsy is mostly found amongst the infants, it must be dealt with special care and guide regardless of age. It’s on the basis of one’s immense patience and caring responsibility towards a CP individual that can help them lead a somewhat normal and happy life that seems worth living.