20 Oct 😬Been told that Whole Body Vibration Therapy will help your child with Cerebral Palsy get stronger and learn to walk?
Whole body vibration therapy was initially developed for athletes 🏃🏻♂️to improve the effectiveness of their training. Vibration platforms would be included in some regular conditioning and gym exercises such as squats, press-ups and step-ups. The therapy is undertaken by standing, sitting, lying or doing exercises on specifically designed equipment that oscillates, generally in a horizontal plane, at relatively high frequencies. 🤔The theory is that the vibration signals are transferred into body tissues, tendons and muscles, which increases muscle contractions and ultimately improves muscle strength, co-ordination and balance. In the long term, such contractions would increase muscle mass and energy expenditure, leading to better control of blood sugar levels.
😳Whole body vibration therapy has now found its way into the disability arena with many therapy centres offering it as a therapy option for children with special needs, particularly children with Cerebral Palsy. The theory is that Whole body vibration therapy will improve muscle strength and improve walking pattern in children with Cerebral Palsy.
An Australian study in 2013, carried out a systematic review of interventions for children in Cerebral Palsy and found that the study reporting the effectiveness of Whole body vibration therapy to increase muscle strength and improve walking patterns in children with Cerebral Palsy provided lower-quality supporting evidence in non-Cerebral Palsy population, but no effect in Cerebral Palsy. 🙅♀️The study concluded that Whole body vibration therapy had simply next to no evidence published on it’s effectiveness and what has been published involves very small numbers and is of low quality.
So if you are looking for effective early interventions to help your child with Cerebral Palsy, ring 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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