Children’s health problem: Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is a serious disorder caused by brain damage that leads to a problem with muscle function. Cerebral palsy completely changes the lives of both parents and child. Each person with cerebral palsy is an individual with specific disabilities and needs. 

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a disease of the central nervous system, in which one or more parts of the brain are affected, resulting in non-progressive disorders of motor and muscular activity, coordination of movement, functions of vision, hearing, as well as speech and psyche. With a slight degree, a child is trained to move independently, and has self-care skills. The average degree requires additional assistance from adults. Children with severe cerebral palsy are completely dependent on others, intellectual development varies between moderate and severe mental retardation.

The development of cerebral palsy in children can be caused by many different reasons. Some causes may include:

• Disorders of normal division of nerve tissue cells

• Prolonged oxygen deficiency in the fetus during pregnancy

• Fetal brain lesions resulting from short-term severe oxygen deficiency

• Pre-natal infections, most often caused by the herpes virus

• Rhesus mother-fetal conflict

• Brain injuries during and immediately after the prenatal period of development

• Infectious brain lesions in the first year of life of the child

• The consequence of medical errors during childbirth.

So, the main causes of cerebral palsy are related to the processes of pregnancy development and the birth act, and these conditions are not inherited, so this paralysis is often called congenital cerebral palsy. The less common type is acquired cerebral palsy. This traumatic brain injury occurs as a result of accidents or brain infection. As a result, having received such a condition immediately after birth, a person is forced to live and fight with it all his life.

Cerebral palsy is a lifelong process, since complete cure is impossible. However, many patients with cerebral palsy in adulthood can lead a normal life. Cerebral palsy treatment is mainly aimed at eliminating symptoms. It involves rehabilitation focused on restoring the functions that have been affected by the disease. One of the most effective methods is massage, which helps to bring back muscle tone. Also, therapeutic gymnastics is recommended to improve coordination of movements. 

Considering cerebral palsy treatment in Ukraine? The Kozyavkin Method (Intensive Neurophysiological Rehabilitation System, INRS) is one of the most successful types of treatment options for those with cerebral palsy. This is a highly effective treatment for patients with cerebral palsy, low back pain and consequences of trauma and organic lesions of the nervous system. INRS is a multimodal rehabilitation system in which the influence of one component is complemented and intensified by the others. Its main component is a biomechanical correction of the spine and large joints in combination with a set of treatment modalities: reflexotherapy, physical therapy, special massage therapy, rhythmical group exercises, mechanotherapy, apitherapy. This method was created more than 30 years ago in Ukraine and thus, more than 70,000 patients have been treated by this method, including around 17000 from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, USA and other counties of the world. Rehabilitation by the Kozyavkin Method is carried out in Lviv and Truskavets, Ukraine. Contact UA Destination team to get more information about cerebral palsy treatment in Ukraine.