Treatments and Therapies

Via Neuroscience News Using musical cues to learn a physical task significantly develops an important part of the brain, according to a new study. People who practiced a basic movement task to music showed increased structural connectivity between the regions of the brain that process sound and control movement. The findings focus on white matter... Read More

Via The National Library of Medicine A 12-year-old boy with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, Gross Motor Function Classification System level II, participated in a 20-week running program. The 6-minute walk test and the 88-item and 66-item versions of the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) were administered at baseline and program completion. After completion of the... Read More

By Stacy Grieve Via Cerebral Palsy News Today   A physical therapy approach known as neurodevelopmental treatment can improve shaking but not movement in children with cerebral palsy, according to a South Korean study. The study, published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, was titled “Effect of neurodevelopmental treatment-based physical therapy on the change... Read More

Via PRBuzz & BioSpace When people think of Kinesiology Tape, it’s fair to say that thoughts focus on professional athletes who use this tape to enhance sporting performance, prevent injury and allow them to return to recover faster. However, studies have shown that the applications and benefits of Kinesiology Tape are far more wide reaching... Read More

By Lee Vander Loop Some children with cerebral palsy require physical therapy. Some don’t. Once the diagnosis is made, and the type of cerebral palsy is determined, a team of health care professionals will work to identify specific impairments and needs, and then develop an appropriate plan to address the core disabilities that affect the... Read More

By Lee Vander Loop CP Family Network Editor Years ago, before the invention of augmentive communication devices, children who displayed an inability to communicate were assumed to suffer from severe developmental disabilities and treated as such. Imagine the heartache and frustration of a child with sound cognitive abilities or mild to moderate learning disabilities trapped... Read More

By Lee Vander Loop CP Family Network Editor The term cerebral palsy refers to a group of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement, muscle coordination, and balance. CP affects the part of the brain that controls muscle movements and can often impair muscle groups needed for self-care... Read More

Editor’s Note: When you factor in today’s challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting interruption of education, therapy, and support services—not to mention the social isolation—it’s a perfect storm with the potential to create a lasting, detrimental impact on a child’s sometimes fragile mental wellbeing. In a recent study, researchers noted anxiety, depression, irritability,... Read More

By John Lehman Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) refers to a group of treatments that make use of electrical current to stimulate nerve endings, with the aim of reverting damage to the patient’s nervous system. Children suffering from cerebral palsy often have issues with movement and muscle spasticity, and EMS has proven to be effective at... Read More

By John Lehman Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is commonly used to treat scuba divers with the bends, but recently, the therapy has been used to treat certain types of cerebral palsy, as well. Opinions vary as to whether or not HBOT is an effective treatment for children with cerebral palsy. Some research has shown improvements... Read More