27 Oct 🥴Does your child with Cerebral Palsy walk on their tip toes 🤔Been told that your child needs serial casting to stretch their calf muscles so they can walk on their feet flat

Spasticity is a common feature of cerebral palsy and is one of the primary types of muscle tone abnormalities associated with this condition. Spasticity refers to the stiffness and tightness of muscles, which can lead to difficulty in movement and coordination. It occurs due to abnormal messages from the brain 🧠 to the muscles, particularly related to muscle contraction and relaxation.

Spasticity commonly affects the calf muscles causing the calf muscles to tighten and shorted leading to toe walking. 🦵Persistent toe walking can result in foot bone deformities, knee joint deformities, knee pain and hip pain.

Fortunately, toe walking can be corrected effectively by stretching the calf muscles through serial casting. 🤗Serial casting is a process whereby the calf muscles are slowly stretched to allow the ankle joint to regain its full range of motion so that a child can place their heel down to walk with typically developing motion of heel strike, foot flat and push off pattern. Serial casting for toe walking is the application of two layers of cast material from below the knee to the toes, and is usually done for a period of 6 to 8 weeks to achieve full calf muscle length and ankle joint range of motion. Serial casting may take longer if a child has been toe walking for more than 7 years of their lives.

Because toe walking in children with Cerebral Palsy is a result of increased spasticity, they often will need cycles of serial casting each year. Serial casting does not cure spasticity, it is a means of managing the underlying spasticity. In addition, with growth spurts over time, the calf muscles can become shortened very suddenly with the sudden growth in bone length and height.

If your child with Cerebral Palsy is toe walking, reach out to My Favourite Physio 📱on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to find out more about serial casting!🤓

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