Statistics for 2021 show that over the past 6 years the number of disabled children in the Russian Federation has increased by 15.5%.
Among diseases associated with disorders of the nervous system and leading to disability, cerebral palsy ranks first in Russia.
The concept of cerebral palsy unites a group of disorders that arise in the perinatal period due to damage to brain structures. The diagnosis includes mono-, hemi-, para-, tetra-paralysis and paresis, pathologies of muscle tone, hyperkinesis, speech defects, unsteady gait, and frequent falls. In some cases, there is a decrease in intelligence, epilepsy, poor vision or hearing.
Treatment methods for children with cerebral palsy
Adaptive physical education
The purpose of the exercises is to develop coordination, expand range of motion, improve motor functions, and strengthen muscles. Instructors teach children to hold their heads up, crawl, kneel, take their first steps, roll over, and sit up. It is important to prevent incorrect postures.
Healing Fitness
A set of procedures: hardening, massage, gradual stretching, fixing the arms and legs in the correct position, their smooth flexion and extension. The procedures improve blood circulation and relieve spasms.
AFC and exercise therapy classes help the child become more independent and resilient. The program is selected individually, depending on the form of the disease. Thus, with muscle atony, the emphasis is on maintaining balance, and spastic diplegia requires continuous movements.
Orthopedic products
Fixing splints, support walkers, soft and rigid SVOSH orthoses, derotational cuffs and special suits allow you to develop the correct motor stereotype. These drugs activate the compensatory mechanisms of the nervous system, which leads to the development of new movements.
Bicycles with safety belts, locking elements and two brakes: parking and hand brakes have been developed for children with cerebral palsy. The height of the bike's back, saddle and side support can be adjusted.
Surgical intervention
To fix the skeleton in the desired position, surgeons resort to bone lengthening or tendon grafting. In case of severe muscle spasticity, leading to the formation of contractures and constant pain, it is necessary to interrupt the pathological impulse coming from the spinal cord. Then the patient is prescribed a spinal rhizotomy.
Drug treatment of cerebral palsy
Aimed at relieving a specific symptom. Thus, when cerebral palsy is combined with epilepsy, the doctor prescribes anticonvulsants, when muscle tone increases, antispastic drugs, and for chronic pain, antispasmodic drugs. Drug therapy may include nootropics, metabolic drugs (glycine, ATP, amino acids), neostigmine, antidepressants, tranquilizers, antipsychotics. All medications are taken strictly according to a doctor's prescription.
Physiotherapy
The most famous methods are electrical stimulation of nerves and muscles, therapeutic electrophoresis, mud and hydrotherapy, and thermal procedures. Immersion in warm water relaxes muscles, relieves pain, and reduces the severity of hyperkinesis. Doctors often prescribe oxygen, radon, turpentine and iodine-bromine baths, herbal baths with pine needles or valerian.
Animal-assisted therapy
Restoration through contact with animals. The most common methods are hippotherapy, canistherapy and dolphin therapy. The session is conducted by two specialists: an instructor and a psychotherapist. Tactile sensations stimulate brain structures. This expands the patient’s range of speech and motor skills. The psychological component is also important: the positive emotions that a child receives during classes with horses, dogs or dolphins.
Speech therapy
Speech disorders are observed in at least 65% of children diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Dysarthria is a pronunciation disorder due to defects in the speech apparatus. Alalia is the absence or underdevelopment of speech due to organic damage to the speech areas of the cerebral cortex. Dysarthria is the most common. Alalia is difficult to diagnose and correct.
Teachers correct speech, help develop breathing, voice and diction, teach children to understand words, facial expressions and gestures.
The speech pathologist begins the lesson by relaxing the facial muscles and articulatory apparatus. Next comes articulation and breathing exercises, voice development, and work on pronunciation of sounds. The next stage is expanding your vocabulary.
Psychological help
The sessions include exercises on attention and memory, perception of objects, color discrimination, and development of fine motor skills. Role-playing games allow you to control emotions and form ideas about people’s relationships.
Psychologists help children work through emotional trauma, accept their physical defect, and learn to love and respect themselves.
ART therapy
Includes drawing, modeling from clay or dough, music, dancing. A release of emotions, stress relief and concentration on the process - all this reduces anxiety, improves memory and thinking.
All these methods of treating cerebral palsy should be used simultaneously and regularly.
Our programs
The “Maximum” program
is rehabilitation of all types of cerebral palsy and other diseases of the central nervous system and musculoskeletal system. Find out more and sign up...
Program “Rehabilitation in an Adele costume”
— a minimum set of the most effective rehabilitation methods. Find out more and sign up...
Early Help Program
— rehabilitation of children under 3 years of age with various congenital diseases and the risks of their development. Find out more and sign up...
“Remote-supervised rehabilitation” program
— a set of video lessons and online consultations during the inter-rehabilitation period or an alternative to an in-person course. Find out more and sign up...
Program "Help for Teenagers"
— rehabilitation of adolescents and young disabled people during puberty, provision of psychological assistance to parents.
Prevention of cerebral palsy
Possible reasons for the diagnosis:
- infections during pregnancy (rubella, cytomegaly, toxoplasmosis, chlamydia, influenza);
- disorders in the pregnant woman’s immune system;
- toxicosis;
- mother's age is under 16 and over 35 years;
- chronic somatic diseases (diabetes mellitus, chronic pyelonephritis, diseases of the cardiovascular and nervous system);
- epilepsy;
- previous miscarriages, stillbirths, the presence of children with developmental pathologies;
- mechanical traumatic brain injury of the fetus;
- obstetric pathology (narrow pelvis in the mother with a large weight of the newborn);
- incompatibility of the blood of mother and child according to the Rh factor;
- mental retardation in parents;
- alcoholism and drug addiction of parents.
When planning a pregnancy, you need to strengthen your immune system, treat existing somatic diseases, and prevent infections. Chronic fetal hypoxia is very common. Its prevention should begin from the first weeks of pregnancy. This primarily applies to women with Rh-conflict pregnancies.
Forecasts
Depends on the form of cerebral palsy, timeliness, sequence and duration of rehabilitation. Unfortunately, we are not talking about complete relief of symptoms. But restoring or improving certain skills is possible. When diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the child’s intelligence does not always suffer. Special children have a chance to catch up with their peers academically, finish school, and go to college or university. There is a chance for a full life, but therapy is difficult and continuous. The sooner you start, the better the result will be. Attending rehabilitation courses in a clinic is not enough. You need to study at home every day.
LLC RC "Sakura" has been operating since 2011. We specialize in the treatment of cerebral palsy. We also help children with ASD and Down syndrome. We have Russian and Chinese doctors on our staff. We accept applications throughout the country. Patients come to us from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Kazan and other cities.
Massage
In centers where you can undergo rehabilitation with a child with cerebral palsy, massage is used to improve the patient’s condition. Thanks to this procedure, the disease slows down and the risk of possible complications is reduced.
During the massage procedure, the muscles relax, blood circulation increases, which has a positive effect on their development. At the same time, metabolic processes in the body and its overall health are activated.
Attention! Massage by itself is not able to cure the disease, so it is necessary to combine it with other therapeutic methods.
Objectives of complex treatment
Children's in Moscow provides a full range of medical and rehabilitation services for the treatment of cerebral palsy. We can provide therapy for the comprehensive recovery of a child or teenager.
We use effective methods against the development of pathologies that arise in the perinatal period.
The essence of the deviations lies in the incompleteness of the structural and functional development of the brain. Specialists use methods to stimulate physiological skills. The purpose of this intervention is to restore mental, motor and speech abilities.
To achieve the intended result, it is necessary to develop and implement a complex, multi-stage plan. Among the primary tasks of the medical team at our cerebral palsy rehabilitation center are:
- Elimination of pathological tonic reflexes.
- Strengthening relaxed and stretched tissues.
- Restoration of muscle tone.
- Activation of breathing function.
- Help with hypertonicity and hyperkinesis.
- Relaxation of spastic areas.
- Increased performance.
- Development of coordination, balance, walking.
- Normalization of muscle mass.
Comprehensive rehabilitation program for cerebral palsy in children and adults
The course is based on tools that will help correct the impairments caused by cerebral palsy and strengthen the patient’s socialization skills, ability to learn and self-care. A large role in this is played by therapeutic exercises, hydrokinesitherapy, kinesiotherapy, as well as staying in the sensory room.
Our rehabilitation center has extensive experience in working with cerebral palsy. This helps to develop effective recovery programs taking into account the individual characteristics of each patient.
The course includes:
- Individual kinesiotherapy - 20 procedures;
- Individual mechanotherapy – 20 procedures;
- Individual hydrokinesitherapy – 8 procedures;
- Classic massage - 10 procedures;
- Physiotherapy - 20 procedures;
- Balance training - 10 procedures;
- Speech therapist - 8 lessons;
- Neuropsychologist - 4 sessions;
- Ergotherapy - 6 procedures;
- Social adaptation - 14 procedures.
To create an optimal course of recovery, each patient undergoes diagnostics, which helps determine the degree of development of the disease, the specificity and complexity of the disorders.
Examination by medical specialists:
- neurologist;
- therapist;
- physiotherapist;
- physical therapy doctor;
- urologist;
- psychologist.
During the diagnostic process the following is carried out:
- clinical blood test studies;
- general blood and urine analysis;
- analysis for the presence of infections;
- ECG;
- chest x-ray;
- x-ray of joints and bones;
- Ultrasound of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, abdominal and pelvic organs.
After completing a course of recovery and adaptation, patients with cerebral palsy use in real life the practical skills of self-care, work and everyday life acquired in our center. They cope with physical and mental tasks more confidently, become more socially active, and cope more easily with difficulties caused by a neurological disease. In reviews of the treatment and rehabilitation of cerebral palsy, our patients and their relatives regularly thank us for our professional work.
Effective rehabilitation for cerebral palsy
The basis of helping children with developmental disabilities is an interdisciplinary approach. It requires the involvement of a competent team of specialists, including a speech therapist, pediatrician, traumatologist, orthopedist, speech pathologist, psychologist and other doctors.
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Rehabilitation of cerebral palsy includes a course of physical therapy, physiotherapy, massage, reflexology, classes with a speech therapist, psychologist, neuropsychologist, various techniques of complementary medicine, which have proven themselves in the complex therapy of cerebral palsy. Classes are conducted regularly at an optimal level of intensity. Parents and other relatives are trained in proper child care and introduced to the features of home rehabilitation exercises.
Treatment of cerebral palsy involves conducting classes to strengthen muscles, develop verbal skills and social adaptation. Most classes are conducted in a playful way. The child becomes more independent and adapted to everyday life. Positive results after therapy sessions increase patient motivation.
Basic techniques
Training-load suit "Adele", Rehabilitation in virtual reality, System "UGUL", System "SPIDER", Therapeutic styling, Massage, Olfactotherapy, Neurocorrection, Game speech therapy, Dynamic AFC, Speech therapy vocals, Transcranial micropolarization, Bell therapy, Halotherapy, Bionithreads, Biocapsule.
Rehabilitation
accepts for rehabilitation treatment patients diagnosed with cerebral palsy and other consequences of damage to the central nervous system and musculoskeletal system. This chronic disease provokes a lack of muscle activity, poor coordination and mental deviations.
We provide comprehensive rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy under the guidance of competent staff. The clinic’s specialists have extensive experience working with all forms of disorders and select personalized rehabilitation programs with high results for children and adolescents. Treatment for cerebral palsy should begin as early as possible, when the earliest manifestations of the pathology appear, possibly before an official diagnosis is made. Competent rehabilitation of patients with cerebral palsy allows one to achieve lasting positive results and improve a person’s quality of life in the future.
