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Spastic Cerebral Palsy
Spastic Cerebral Palsy – A form of
cerebral palsy that causes tightness in the muscles. Because of this
tightness, spastic cerebral palsy patients have a difficult time
controlling their movement.
Spastic CP is the most common form and
affects the body’s ability to relax muscles, causing tightness and difficulties
in movement. Spastic cerebral palsy affects around 70 percent of children with
cerebral palsy.
When both legs are affected (spastic diplegia), a child may have
difficulty walking because tight muscles in the hips and legs cause legs
to turn inward and cross at the knees (called scissoring). In other
cases, only one side of the body is affected (spastic hemiplegia), often
with the arm more severely affected than the leg. Most severe is spastic
quadriplegia, in which all four limbs and the trunk are affected, often
along with the muscles controlling the mouth and tongue.
Normally, healthy muscles work together: when one group contracts,
the other group relaxes to allow free movement in the intended
direction. Muscles in children with spastic cerebral palsy become
active together and block effective movement, working against each
other.
The degree of muscle spasticity usually changes over time. Physical
therapy, surgery, drugs and adaptive equipment may help to control
spasticity. Damage to the brain's cerebral cortex is generally the cause
of spastic cerebral palsy.
Read More: Types of Cerebral
Palsy
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