Tell-Tale Signs of Cerebral Palsy You Should be Aware Of

Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects infants and children during the first few years of their life. It can be mild and hardly noticeable in some cases, while in other cases the child can be completely disabled. It can prevent them from growing and developing at a normal rate. Cerebral palsy is the result of brain damage that can be caused before or after birth. It can be the result of a brain defect, a lesion on the brain, trauma or infection. Knowing the signs of cerebral palsy can help you identify and come to terms with the condition.Some forms of juvenile cerebral palsy or CP is found in every two or three children out of every one thousand born in the United States. That’s an astonishing figure. The good news is, many of these cases are mild enough that the patient can move on and live a fairly normally life. The earlier they receive treatment for this condition the better it will be because it will help them adjust and learn how to live with CP easier. That’s why knowing the signs of cerebral palsy can be extremely beneficial.Cerebral palsy symptoms include having trouble developing simple motor skills such as sitting up, walking, holding things and so forth. Now, this doesn’t mean that if your child can’t sit up when they are four months old but your neighbor’s child did, that they have CP. All children develop at different rates and what is normal for one will not be normal for another. This is true even for different children in the same family. Therefore, you need to not jump to conclusion but simply be alert.Other signs that could prove to be more of a factor in determining if your child has cerebral palsy include hypotonia, which is a decrease in muscle tone and hypertonia, an increase in muscle tone. Other signs to be concerned with are involuntary movements, body shakes and tremors along with unusual posture that causes the child to favor one side more than the other.It’s a difficult thing to find out your child has cerebral palsy because it’s not curable, but fortunately there are treatments. The sooner you discover that your child has this condition, the sooner you can begin treatments that will help them in the future. If you notice something unusual but you’re not sure if it’s important, talk to your child’s doctor to see what they think and if it’s something they believe you should monitor more closely.If it’s believed that your child may have cerebral palsy, your doctor will ask you a series of questions that will help them determine if this could be the problem and if so, to what degree your child may be affected. It’s important for you to monitor your child carefully and write down what you notice that would be considered unusual, when these signs take place and how often they occur.Starting up a journal is the easiest way to record this information. The questions will be followed up with a variety of test and they will discuss the results with you. Knowing the signs of cerebral palsy can help you determine if your child is developing at a healthy normal rate.