Conditions
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is term that covers a set of neurological conditions that affect movement and coordination. The symptoms can vary widely and depend on the type of cerebral palsy. These are:
- spastic cerebral palsy where the muscle stiffens and account for 70% of all cases
- ataxic cerebral palsy where balance and depth perception are affected
- atheloid (dyskinetic) cerebral palsy which affects speech and causes increased and decreased muscle tone and account for around 10% of all cases
- spastic quadriplegia where the child can be left unable to walk, support the neck and with learning difficulties
Around 1 in every 400 children in the UK are affected by the condition with 1,800 babies being diagnosed with cerbral palsy every year.
Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the brain, normally around birth. Possible causes include infection in early pregnancy, difficult or premature birth, bleeding in the baby’s brain, abnormal brain development, breech births, multiple babies in the womb and a low birth weight. Children with cerebral palsy can also have related existing conditions such as epilepsy, learning difficulties, incontinence, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech problems, delayed growth and a curved spine.
As the chid gets older, complications with cerebral palsy can arise such as post-impairment syndrome (fatigue, muscle weakness, pain, arthritis, repetitive strain injury), premature ageing of the body’s organs and depression. Contracture can also be a symptom, which is the shortening of the muscle tissure due to severe tightening. This condition can impair bone growth, causes the bones to bend and can result in joint deformaties and dislocation.
This is no cure for cerebral palsy, but it is not a progressive condition so the symptoms will not worsen as the child gets older. Cerebral palsy can put a lot of strain on the body, however, and a range of treatments are available to help the sufferer cope with the phsyical and mental problems related to the condition. These include physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and also medicines such as muscle relaxants and orthopaedic surgery to help correct problems with bones and joints.
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i am 14 and have right sided hemi cp.even through i only have it mild i find it quite hard to balance on my right leg, although i guess i am quite lucky considering some people have it extremely bad. as i do quite a lot of exercise on my legs i have recently noticed my left calf is a lot bigger that my right and was wondering if any body had any muscle exercise. also i can not touch my right little finger to the finger next to it and was wondering if that is connected to it? i also have a twin sister a nd was born prematurely and was wondering if that had anything to do with it
Just to add, does it puzzle anybody else that their is such little literature on the affects of CP on adults? All the literature tends to be about children with the condition as far as I know.
Yeah it does puzzle me because I an 15 and i have cerebral palsay down the left side of my body.
I have Cerebral Palsy which is relatively mild. The medical term is a right sided hemiplegia with a porencephalic cyst. My disability is somewhat unseen but it makes tasks others might take for granted difficult. I often feel stuck in between what is 'normal' and what is 'disabled.' It makes life difficult because I am either disabled or not as various agencies see fit. It certainly rules out certain jobs. I have little dexterity in my right hand and an 'odd' gait on my right side. I have had Botox in my right arm with very little if any improvement seen. I am expecting the symptoms to get progressively worse with age. Chris, to answer your question; a good starting point would be your GP or Scope who have a helpline, see their website!
I have the same problem but I have cerebral palsy down the left side of my body.
Hi my baby has left hemi cp amd epilepsy due to a stroke she is one now i was just wondering if theres anybody that has been true the same and can give me advice on what to expect
Hello! I'm 22 with left hemi cp! I have no use of my left arm/hand & I can walk (started walking at 22 months) but I find it can get painful and very tiring after a while. I've worn splints on my leg all my life & still do now, i also have daily physio to try and keep muscle tightness under control. I had 2 operations aged 9 & 13 on my leg which got rid of my tip toe walking. I've also had botox to relieve tightness in my arm & leg which was great I don't have epilepsy, but I do have associated visual perception problems, I struggled at Maths because of it. I would also say that I've learnt since I've become an adult that hemiplegia is a condition which does need life long management. (Stupidly my parents & I thought that tightness in my muscles would only be a problem when growing) I've never ever let my disability stop me, I live independently and study at university, I learnt to swim, and ride a bike, so I do think anything is possible, it might be more difficult, but I think hemiplegia does make you loads more determined! Hemihelp is a fabulous charity which I would recommend for any advice & information.
i went to the drs the other day as the muscle tone in one side of my face was weakened, and whilst i was in with the dr, she phoned through to ent dp of my local hospital, and said i was presenting with bells palsy but it was hard to diagnos as i already had cerebal palsy! needless to say i was shocked as im 27 yrs old and this has never been mantioned to either me or my parents before, when i got home i looked online and had a look at cerebal palsy on wikipedia, i kept thinking thats not me ( i have a noticable weakness on my left side and one hand is smaller than the other) as they were discribing someone who was severly disabled, but finding this site is amazing as its nice to feel like im not the only one and its finally lovely to put a name to the problems ive had all my life.
I am 28 and have CP. It has only affected the right side of my body and would be considered mild. After two operations on my right leg, very painful physiotherapy as a child and two operations to straighten my right eye, no one would know that I had CP apart from a slight limp (worsened by a couple of beers!)My feet are odd sizes which means ive never been able to wear strappy heals and this has certainly affected my confidence in the past. However, my mother always refused to take me to a 'special school' even when the doctor said i was 'spastic from the knee down'. As a result i went to mainstream school and achieved above average in most things. I consider myself very lucky and have learned to live with what ive got. Confidence is the main thing and i live as normal life as others. its no longer the burden it was.
hi i am 17 and i have cerebal palsy in my hands and speech. I often shake my head and hands when i become nervous. I was wondering how i could relax my muscles or stop this from happening, as it can happen any where, the more i think about it the more it happens, it is quite embarrasing! Help please. tasha x
I am 25 I have CP all my life and I have learnt to live with it, I can't walk in heels and flats fall off my left foot, which is seriously anoying but life has to go on. Its nice to know your not alone after reading some of your coments I feel better thanks.
im 14 and i have been worryng that all my friends are wearing high heels and i just want to look pretty like them but it exaggerates my bad walking even more and its just depressing but im glad to know other people had the same problem
oh if only we could where heels and flip flopps, so many nice shoes i miss out on :(
Hi I am a 'left sider' too due to a strioke as a baby my left side is smaller and weaker i wear a heal raise on ine shoe cant really wear heals but i try. I live in cornwall and live a normal life except the op's are becoming more frequent knee and hip probs
I was born with a condition called Hemiplegia, which is similar to Cerebral Palsy. I had a traumatic birth so it has damaged the right side of my brain which therefore means I have right-sided Hemiplegia. I have learnt to live with it as Ive gotten older but I've always been very self concious about it and who I tell it to, because you will often get the people who don't really understand. There are afew things that have stopped me from being a normal teenage girl, for example I cant wear heels because my right foot is too weak to support the heel... but I would just like to say if you have a disability, it doesnt mean you cant stop living your life... it just makes you unique! I was also diagnosed with having epilepsy afew years ago, which could be related to when I was born. I can live a normal life, but unfortunately there is no cure and I will have to learn to live with it which I have been doing for the past 18years. If you want to talk etc, feel free because Im experiencing it first hand xxx
hi Natalie! I have right-sided hemi too! i can't wear heels either, or flats, they always fall off, but i've found some elasticated ones now, which manage to stay on my foot (most of the time). I was born 13 weeks premature along with my twin sister. We both had bleeding on the brain, but she doesn't have hemiplegia. It's always really hard going out with friends, because I always get so tired easily, and I get really emotional; the slightest thing sets me off! But you're right; having a disability doesn't have to stop us leading a similar life to our friends. Learning to live with it can be hard, but you adapt to it over time. Like Natalie, i'm here to talk if needed xxx
aww bless you, i dont bother wearing heels... but its always awkward when im out with friends if you like email me?
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