How to Treat Cerebral Palsy?
Medical Treatment:
- No cure but symptoms can be made better
- Physiotherapy to encourage movement and to prevent muscles from becoming weaker. Also to prevent muscle contracture(shortened muscle)
- Speech therapy to improve speech or to learn sign language
- Occupational therapy to identify any particular areas and to remedy it
- Medicines. Baclofen to help with muscle stiffness, botox injections to relax muscles, melatonin for sleep disturbances, painkillers for pain, laxative for constipation and antiepileptic medications for seizures/fits
- Feeding. Improve swallowing techniques with speech therapy advise, a feeding tube(NJ tube) in case of severe problem
- Drooling. This can be corrected with surgery to redirect salive gland direction towards the back, botox injections into the saliva glands, anticholinergic medications or skin patches. Speech therapy can help
- Surgery: Selective dorsal rhizotomy to reduce stiffness in legs, scoliosis surgery, treat muscle contractures