06 Jan Do you have a child  with Cerebral Palsy that is affecting their hand function

Wondering if there is anything you can do to help your child with Cerebral Palsy improve their hand and wrist function

Every 20 hours, an Australian child is born with cerebral palsy, it is the most common physical disability in childhood. Cerebral palsy is a life-long physical disability due to injury of the developing brain. Spastic hemiplegia, where one half of the body has difficulty with voluntary movement, is the most common presentation of cerebral palsy. Approximately 40% of people with cerebral palsy have hemiplegia. Often the arm and hand affected by Cerebral Palsy tends to be bent in the wrist and elbow making it tricky to grasp objects, dress, undress and feed themselves.

Here at My Favourite Physio, we see little ones with Cerebral Palsy to help them move better by teaching them to roll, sit, crawl, pull to stand and to walk. For little ones to do so over time, we need to help them learn to use both hands as well as their legs. Children with Cerebral Palsy tend to hold their hands and wrists bent and struggle to lift their wrists up with open palms. Children need to be able to lift their wrists to place their hands down to crawl or to reach their hands forward to place their hand to grasp toys or furniture to pull to stand.

One of the strategies we use to help a child improve their hand and wrist position so that they can improve their wrist and hand function is a customised Dynamic Garment Orthosis. These are individually made to order gloves that can either start from their fingers, or the base of their fingers to below their elbow or above their elbow. The children will wear their customised glove at least 8 hours a day to help them learn to use their hand and wrist more functionally during the day as they play, learn to dress, feed themselves, and to hold a pencil to draw or write.

So if you have a little one with Cerebral Palsy who is struggling to use their hand and wrist functionally, reach out to My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio today! Find out if a Dynamic Garment Orthosis can help your child move better!