21 Apr Have you been told to get AFOs for your child with Cerebral Palsy 

Have you been told to get AFOs for your child with Cerebral Palsy 
Did you know that there are other options of orthotics that may be more beneficial to your child than AFOs

Children with Cerebral Palsy often either experience increased tone in their calf muscles known as spasticity or experienced loss of muscle control in their shin muscles controlling their ankle movement. Both situations lead to the ankle being pulled into a tip toe posture which limits the child’s ability to sit with their feet flat on the ground or to walk without tripping on their feet or on tip toes. Historically the medical profession involved in the care of children with Cerebral Palsy focused on the problem of increased spasticity in the calf muscles and the loss of the muscle control in the shin muscles by using treatment strategies that kept the ankle positioned at 90 degrees. As a result, often parents with children with Cerebral Palsy are told to get Ankle-Foot-Orthosis (AFOs) for their child.

The problem with using AFOs is that it limits the child’s ability to move their ankles into positions past 90 degrees upwards or downwards, stopping a child from squatting on the ground to play or to push off from their toes in natural walking patterns. The use of AFOs often assumes that children with Cerebral Palsy will not be able to physically squat to play nor will they be able to walk with a natural walking pattern.

Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists believe that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to move from sitting to crawling to pulling to stand to walking with as close a natural movement pattern as possible. AFOs limit that opportunity to learn to move easily for children with Cerebral Palsy, as such we tend not to recommend the use of AFOs. Instead we recommend the use of a variety of orthotics such as SMOs, UCBLs in combination with Dictus bands. For children with mild Cerebral Palsy, we would trial the option of a Walkaide.

To find out more about orthotic options for your child with Cerebral Palsy, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today.