Cerebral Palsy Treatment: Des Moines, Iowa HBOT
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral Palsy (brain weakness) is a movement/motor disorder that presents itself in early childhood and is unchangeable.
Cerebral Palsy contains problems with movement, posture and balance. As a neurological disorder, the symptoms of Cerebral Palsy result from injury to the areas of the brain that affect motor function. These injuries can happen during pregnancy, birth and even early childhood. In most instances, Cerebral Palsy became apparent during birth or shortly after in premature babies who experience spontaneous bleeding in the white matter of the brain. White matter is tissue in the brain that conducts electrical signals and connects ALL of the brain cells together. When there is bleeding in the white matter, the large brain cells are unable to send signals to the muscles, thus resulting in Cerebral Palsy.
Effects of Cerebral Palsy
The intensity of symptoms will vary from person to person, but common issues we see in Des Moines include: uncontrollable movement, poor balance, problems with tone and minimal coordination. The severity can be determined by the type of CP and the number of arms and/or legs affected. Someone with severe CP may not have the ability to walk at all and one with mild CP may walk but a little awkwardly. Some may have one arm or leg affected, one side of the body, just legs or all limbs. Over time, the condition will not get worse but the specific symptoms may change.
Types of Cerebral Palsy
Spastic: Affects 80% of people with Cerebral Palsy, making it the most common. The muscles become tight and limbs become stiff. Movements become awkward or “spastic”.
Dyskinetic: People with this type of Cerebral Palsy have difficulty sitting or walking as they have trouble controlling movements in hands, arms, feet and legs.
Ataxic: Balance and coordination become a problem with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy. People with this type of CP may be unsteady when they walk and have a hard time with quick or controlled movements like writing.
Mixed: Some cases may have Mixed Cerebral Palsy - having more than one type of CP. The most common mixture includes Spastic and Dyskinetic.
Cerebral Palsy + HBOT
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT near me) can be a great way to improve a Cerebral Palsy patient’s quality of life. The use of HBOT in Des Moines with Cerebral Palsy can help in a number of ways including, but not limited to:
Refined use of extremities
Improvement in attention/concentration
Better use of fine motor skills
More controlled oral function (chewing, swallowing, drooling)
Improvement in behavior
Not only can HBOT in Des Moines help these symptoms above, but those with cortical impairment of vision or hearing and those with autonomic dysfunction will also experience improvement.
These results happen over time. With one hyperbaric chamber visit, these miraculous results cannot happen. Our doctors are well versed in HBOT near me and their recommended number of visits are prescribed specifically to the patient’s needs. At Clarity Hyperbarics, we support your healing process and provide a relaxed environment to do so.