How to rehabilitate children with cerebral palsy?

Mother's feelings

Baby Tran Pham Bao Tram (Cam Son commune, Anh Son) was born chubby, weighing 4.1 kg, in the boundless joy of the extended family. The baby developed normally until the 7th month, when strange symptoms appeared. She could not roll over, could only lie in one place, her legs were straight, her joints were stiff, and she had difficulty moving. In particular, her feet were getting smaller. The family took her to the doctor and he diagnosed her with cerebral palsy and congenital heart disease.

Ms. Pham Thi Ha (Cam Son, Anh Son), the child's mother, confided that since the day her child got sick, the whole family took her to many hospitals in and outside the province for treatment. When she was brought to Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, her illness had improved a lot.

Ms. Ha confided: "Since the day my child got sick, I cried every night. I cried because I didn't understand why my child was born with such a congenital disease. Now I just hope to have health to accompany my child through the difficult journey ahead."

Also being treated in the same department as Bao Tram is Nguyen Van Bao Lam (5 years old) from Khai Son commune (Anh Son) who has congenital heart failure. After heart surgery in Hanoi, doctors discovered that he had cerebral palsy.

Although he is 5 years old, Bao Lam cannot walk, has poor pronunciation, and needs someone to take care of him from eating, sleeping, and cleaning. Ms. Nguyen Thi Cau - Bao Lam's grandmother said: His parents are busy working, since he was 1 year old, she has accompanied her grandson Bao Lam from one hospital to another but his illness did not progress. Through research, she learned that Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital is a trusted address that can restore and treat cerebral palsy. Recalling the time when she and her grandson accompanied each other, Ms. Cau could not help but feel sad: "I love my grandson but do not know what to do. Just seeing him being able to move his arms and legs today makes me very happy."

Severe sequelae

Talking with Master, Doctor Thai Thi Xuan - Director of Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, it is known that the symptoms of cerebral palsy can be mild or very severe in different children depending on the brain damage, but in a certain child, the symptoms do not get worse as the child gets older. In other words, cerebral palsy is a static disease, meaning that the damage has taken shape and does not progress to become worse. If treated, most children with cerebral palsy can significantly improve their abilities. This is very important to distinguish cerebral palsy from other neurological conditions that have active brain damage and therefore psychomotor symptoms will get worse and worse.Cerebral palsy is usually diagnosed when a child is 2 to 3 years old.

About 2 to 3 children in about 1,000 children at the age of 3 have cerebral palsy. There are about 500,000 children and adults of all ages nationwide with cerebral palsy. Children with cerebral palsy often have poor control of their head, neck and trunk, so all subsequent motor milestones such as rolling over, sitting, crawling, kneeling, standing, walking... are affected. Poor head and neck control is also the first sign to suspect abnormalities in children before 6 months of age. For poor head, neck and trunk control, specialists and rehabilitation technicians will have to perform.

Treatment solutions

According to Dr. Thai Thi Xuan - Director of Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy should start as early as possible because it will avoid muscle and joint contractures and help children develop early motor skills. Rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy must be persistent and long-term, and cannot improve the child's condition overnight. In some cases, this training lasts almost a lifetime.

The principle of rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy is to inhibit the abnormal development of the child's body. For example, children with weak necks cannot lift their heads and their heads are stretched out, so exercises will help inhibit the neck from stretching out, making it more flexible. In addition, exercises are also to stimulate children, helping them increase muscle strength for children with weak muscles that cause flaccidity. The characteristic of rehabilitation exercises for children with cerebral palsy is that each child needs to have their own exercises, not practice in groups. At Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, children are carefully instructed in each exercise method by technicians. Not only practicing individually for children, doctors and technicians also practice for children in groups so that children can practice and play with friends, thereby integrating with their peers early.

There are many methods being applied by Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital, with the help of many experts, the hospital's full rehabilitation program for children with cerebral palsy includes: rehabilitation of movement disorders such as reducing spasticity, athetosis or muscle tone disorders; training the ability to control self-control; treatment of hearing, vision, and epilepsy disorders if any. Functional training for children with cerebral palsy is characterized by the fact that the children do not know the movements that the technicians practice, so the technicians carry out the training very carefully, following the order of normal children's motor development.

In addition to exercise, it is necessary to pay more attention to the communication and spirit of children with cerebral palsy to help them develop social communication skills. For older children, it is necessary to learn to be independent in daily activities (such as personal hygiene). Avoid letting children depend completely on relatives, if they can do it themselves. ”.

Scientific and Technical Council - Nghe An Rehabilitation Hospital.

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Address: No. 220, Binh Minh Street, Cua Lo Town, Nghe An

Contact phone:Clinic Phone: 02383,949,709;24/7 hotline: 02383,952,020;Hotline: 0966.251.414;

Hotline: 0912.002.210;Director's phone number: 0912.487.568.

Thanh Thuy; Technique: Lam Tung