13 Oct 😳 Is your child with Cerebral Palsy frustrated and struggling to use their hands to reach and play 🤔Wondering if there are any strategies to help straighten out your child’s elbows and wrists to help them use their hands more functionally
🥺The impact of cerebral palsy on the upper limbs can result in functional limitations in activities of daily living. Simple tasks like dressing, grooming, and feeding may require adaptations or assistance. Over time, the combination of muscle imbalance, spasticity, and limited movement from Cerebral Palsy can lead to the development of contractures, which are permanent shortening of muscles or tendons. Contractures can further restrict the range of motion in the affected joints. Fine motor skills, such as handwriting, buttoning clothes, or using tools, can be significantly affected especially when a child has contractures in their elbows and wrists. The ability to perform intricate hand movements is often compromised as a result.😬
As Paediatric Physiotherapists, our main goal is focused on gross motor skills and often means looking at a child’s lower limbs and ability to walk. However, the upper limb function affects a child coordination, balance and gross motor skills like rolling, sitting, crawling and walking. As such, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists are often also working on improving a child’s upper limb function.💪
3 Strategies we use to improve upper limb function includes:
1. Serial casting to stretch the elbow muscles to straighten the elbow joint
2. Radial Shockwave Therapy to reduce the spasticity in the elbow and forearm muscles to allow the arm to straighten out and reach with the wrist in a functional grasp
3. Dynamic bracing to allow for support when using the arm and Static bracing for night time stretching
So if you are concerned about your little one with Cerebral Palsy, reach out to My Favourite Physio 📱on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists 🤓today!
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