15 Dec Does your child have Erb’s Palsy which affected their arm

Does your child have Erb’s Palsy which affected their arm
Does you child  have Cerebral Palsy causing weakness in their arms

If you know of any child who has neurological event whereby their arm is paralysed, be aware to handle their arm with care! 

The arm is connected to the body only by muscles  and ligaments. So when there is damage to the nervous system controlling the muscles and movement in the shoulder and arm, the arm tends to hang limply by the side of the body. The person tends to have difficulty in lifting the arm past 90 degrees shoulder height, which means that they are also not able to resist any force pulling at their arm. The common mistake that carers do when trying to help the person stand up or to support the person when walking, is to pull them by the weak arm. When this is repeated daily and many times a day, the ligaments holding the arm at the shoulder joint starts to stretch and the shoulder begins to sublux ( drop down from the shoulder joint). Once the shoulder joint subluxes, it cannot return to its normal position and you will notice a step deformity in their shoulder. Even when no one is pulling at the weak arm to help the person up, the weight of the arm itself will over time gradually cause the shoulder joint to sublux.

So to prevent shoulder subluxation of the weak arm and to remind carers to be careful with the weak arm, it is important to support the arm either by wearing an arm sling or to wear a customised shoulder support orthosis. Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Physiotherapists work closely with an Orthotist to design and customise Dynamic Garment Orthosis that can help to support weak shoulders to ensure optimum positioning of the shoulder joint and allow maximum function of the arm. 

If you are concerned about your child  who has a weak shoulder due to damaged nerves, ring My Favourite Physio on (02)9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Physiotherapists  to find out how we can help your loved ones protect their shoulder joint and regain function!