There are four types of cerebral palsy:
* Spastic Cerebral Palsy (difficult or stiff movement)
* Ataxic Cerebral Palsy (loss of depth perception and balance)
* Athetoid Cerebral Palsy (uncontrolled or involuntary movements)
* Mixed Cerebral Palsy (a mix of two or more of the above)
Spastic Cerebral Palsy
Spastic cerebral palsy affects around 70 percent of children with cerebral palsy. In this form a child's muscles are stiffly and permanently contracted, limiting their range of motion and causing jerky, unpredictable movements. Often a child has trouble holding or letting go of objects or moving from position to position.
Based on the particular areas of the body that are affected, spastic cerebral palsy has several typical manifestations. When both legs are affected, they often turn in and cross at the knees, causing an awkward and stiff walk with a characteristic rhythm, known as the scissors gait. Children may also experience uncontrollable shaking (or tremors) of the limbs on one side of their body. This is known as spastic hemiparesis and, if severe, may seriously impair movement.
Ataxic Cerebral Palsy
This rare form of cerebral palsy affects around 5 to 10 percent of children. Impacting a child's sense of balance and depth perception, children with this type of cerebral palsy often have poor coordination, an unsteady or wide-based gait (placing their feet unusually far apart), and experience difficulty when attempting quick or precise movements (such as writing or buttoning a shirt). These children may also suffer from intention tremors. This form of tremor begins with a voluntary movement, such as reaching for a book, and causes a trembling that affects the body part being used. The tremor worsens as the individual gets nearer to the desired object.
Athetoid Cerebral Palsy
This form of cerebral palsy is characterized by uncontrolled, slow, writhing movements. These abnormal movements usually affect the hands, feet, arms, or legs and, in some cases, the muscles of the face and tongue, causing grimacing or drooling. The movements often increase during periods of emotional stress and disappear during sleep. Children may also have problems coordinating the muscle movements needed for speech, a condition known as dysarthria. Athetoid cerebral palsy affects about 10 to 20 percent of patients.
Mixed Cerebral Palsy
As many as 10 percent of children with cerebral palsy have symptoms of more than one of the forms of cerebral palsy. The most common mixed form includes spastic and athetoid movements, but other combinations are also possible.
Erb's palsy (Brachial Plexus Palsy)
definition - Erb's palsy, or "brachial plexus palsy," is a form of paralysis that affects the shoulder, arm, and hand. Often a result of shoulder dystocia, Erb's palsy occurs during delivery when the nerves that connect a baby's arm, shoulder, and hand to the spinal cord are damaged. The baby's shoulder may become caught on the mother's pelvic bone during delivery, and thus endure an undue amount of stress.
Shoulder Dystocia
definition - A baby's shoulder may become caught behind the mother's pelvic bone during delivery. In this position, the baby runs the risk of stretching and potentially ripping nerves that connect the shoulder, arm, and hand to the spinal cord. The baby may also be unable to breathe - and a lack of oxygen may cause brain injury. Bone injuries may also be sustained because of shoulder dystocia.
More about Obstetrical Brachial Plexus injuries...
Brachial plexus injuries that happen during birth are known as obstetrical brachial plexus injuries (OBPI). Availability of brachial plexus statistics vary widely, but where figures are available the general consensus is that brachial plexus injuries occur in 2-5 out of 1000 births. The majority of these birth injuries occur as a result of a birthing emergency called shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia is when the baby's shoulder becomes impacted on the mother's pelvic bone. During the birth, the brachial plexus nerves can be stretched, torn, or avulsed (pulled out of the spinal column). A high percentage of infants injured at birth regain a great deal of recovery to their affected arm, but many are left with some degree of disability, which can vary from musculoskeletal development problems or impaired sensory and motor function of the affected arm to complete paralysis of the hand, arm and/or shoulder.
The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that conducts signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Brachial plexus injuries are caused by damage to those nerves. Symptoms may include a limp or paralyzed arm, lack of muscle control in the arm, hand, or wrist, and lack of feeling or sensation in the arm or hand. Although injuries can occur at any time, many brachial plexus injuries happen during birth: the baby's shoulders may become impacted during the birth process causing the brachial plexus nerves to stretch or tear. There are four types of brachial plexus injuries: avulsion, the most severe type, in which the nerve is torn from the spine; rupture, in which the nerve is torn but not at the spinal attachment; neuroma, in which the nerve has tried to heal itself but scar tissue has grown around the injury, putting pressure on the injured nerve and preventing the nerve from conducting signals to the muscles; and neuropraxia or stretch, in which the nerve has been damaged but not torn. Neuropraxia is the most common type of brachial plexus injury.
Having coped well through their childhood and young adulthood with the injury, some adults as they age may start to experience long term problems in their affected arm and overuse symptoms in their unaffected arm. Family doctors in many cases do not realize that these problems may be specifically related to the brachial plexus injury. It may be extremely beneficial for these adults affected by brachial plexus injuries to seek help from a specialist even in later life. In addition, the many years of existing with the injury make these adults a valuable information resource in themselves, especially for parents of newly injured babies and also for adults who have suffered a traumatic brachial plexus injury. Finding a support group can therefore be extremely helpful. Just finding that there are many others facing similar challenges can be very comforting for those who have suffered alone for so long.
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Jerald Chan writes for www.cerebralpalsycure.info where you can find out more about cerebralpalsy cure and other topics.
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