Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is considered to be the most common cause of paralysis in new born babies, and it causes brain damage in infants and young children. A child with cerebral palsy has muscle spasms and involuntary movements, which are often accompanied by speech impairment, cognitive impairment, seizures, intellectual disabilities, and hearing loss.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a condition caused by brain injury. It affects the body’s control over movement and posture. Cerebral palsy can be caused due to a lack of oxygen, poor nutrition, low birth weight, bleeding in the brain, or any other reason that causes damage to the brain cells in new born babies. Cerebral palsy can cause muscle spasms in the body, which are often accompanied by involuntary movements of the body and speech impairment. One of the more frequent and serious birth injuries that can occur during labor and delivery is cerebral palsy (CP). It is not simple to obtain compensation for your child’s birth injury-related cerebral palsy; you will need an accomplished birth injury lawyer from a reputed law firm, such as Dolman Law Group accident injury lawyers, to help you establish your medical malpractice claim.
Causes of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy can be caused due to excessive trauma to the unborn baby during pregnancy. It can also be caused due to birth defects, infections and viruses in the mother’s body, lack of proper prenatal care, inadequate care during child delivery, and birth injuries. Other causes of cerebral palsy include genetic brain disorders, nutritional deficiencies, vitamin deficiencies, or food allergies.
Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
Most new born babies with cerebral palsy may have involuntary movements and muscle spasms. Some of the involuntary movements are: Babies with cerebral palsy often suffer from poor posture, difficulty sitting and crawling, and difficulty standing independently and walking. Infants with low birth weight or pre-term births are more likely to develop cerebral palsy. The infants may also suffer from poor muscle movement in their arms, legs, or other parts of their bodies. Babies also suffer from poor speech, intellectual disabilities, and hearing loss. The babies may also have seizures and damaged nerves in the brain.
How to Deal with Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is an incurable condition that cannot be cured by surgery or medication. Hence, parents should take as good care of their children as possible. Some of the things that can be done to help an infant with cerebral palsy include:
- Cerebral palsy affects the body’s control of movement and posture; hence, parents should not force their children to sit or walk.
- Doctors recommend physical therapy in the early stages of cerebral palsy. These therapies improve muscle control, stability, and balance.
- Physical therapists can help people with cerebral palsy to perform daily activities independently and learn adaptive techniques to manage their condition.
- Parents can also opt for vocational training for their child with cerebral palsy to help them get a job when they grow up – which is possible thanks to advancements in medical care and technology in recent times.