The syndrome of muscular dystonia is a disorder characterized by impaired motor activity of the child and abnormal development of muscle tone. Most often, muscular dystonia is diagnosed in childhood.
Syndrome of muscular dystonia in newborns
Muscular dystonia in the baby begins to manifest from the first days of life in the form of hypertonia (increased muscle tension) or hypotension (poorly developed muscles).
Child hypertension is often accompanied by such symptoms as:
- sleep disturbance;
- anxiety;
- frequent crying;
- tremor of the chin;
- frequent regurgitation.
Reduced muscle tone (hypotonic) is tolerated more easily by both parents and the baby. Such a child sleeps a lot, rarely cries, later begins to develop motor skills (holding the head, flipping, crawling, etc.) due to muscle weakness.
Muscular dystonia in children: causes
The appearance of motor disorders in a child is associated, first of all, with a lack of oxygen and a violation of the blood supply of tissues as a result of the pathology of development of pregnancy, which adversely affects the fetus even in the period of intrauterine development. To such reasons carry:
- gestosis in pregnancy ;
- multiple pregnancies;
- repetition;
- diabetes mellitus in a pregnant woman;
- presence of infectious diseases in the second and third period of pregnancy;
- genetic fetal diseases, identified by the results of uzi studies.
Acute hypoxia due to the pathological course of labor can develop as a result of the presence of the following factors:
- cesarean section;
- incorrect fetal presentation (pelvic, transverse);
- impetuous childbirth ;
- placental abruption;
- hydramnios, water retention;
- application of general anesthesia in childbirth.
The syndrome of muscular dystonia is one of the symptoms of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy - brain damage caused by oxygen starvation.
Muscular dystonia: symptoms
In the case of increased muscle tone, the child has the following symptoms:
- The limbs are pressed to the body;
- the child often throws back his head;
- to light and sound reacts with irritation.
With a weak muscle tone in the child :
- sluggish limbs, their low mobility;
- the child does not show activity towards toys, does not reach for them;
- later begins to hold the head, turn over.
In this case, the child may have an asymmetry of the muscle tone - a condition in which each half of the body is different in muscle tone (for example, left extremities in tension, while the right side of the body often remains inactive).
Muscular dystonia: treatment
For the selection of the optimal method of treatment of muscular dystonia, the following factors are taken into account:
- at what age stage of development of the child for the first time violations of motor activity were noticed;
- degree of severity of violations;
- form of percolation (hyper- or hypotonic);
- presence of concomitant neurologic symptoms.
As effective methods of treatment apply:
- kinesiotherapy : treatment with active and passive movement (therapeutic gymnastics, swimming, massage, special motor exercises);
- drug therapy : cerebrolysin, pantokalcin, semax, midokalm, solcoseryl, baclofen, as well as vitamins belonging to group B;
- physiotherapy : laser treatment, magnet, ultrasound, electrophoresis, mud baths, cryocontrast (alternating alternation of cold and heat).
It should be remembered that medication is prescribed by a neurologist after a thorough analysis of the child's condition.
Massage with muscular dystonia
The most effective use of massage for treatment of hypertonia, and hypotension. In this case, in the case of increased muscle tone, a soothing, relaxing massage is prescribed: rubbing, stroking, acupressure. For the treatment of reduced tone massage is done more actively, intensively: when stroking, press the entire palm to increase pressure on the massaged area, rub, tingle, tap, stimulate the biologically active points.
If the muscle tone is not corrected in time, then in the future the child may have such health problems as:
- rachiocampsis;
- incorrect gait;
- clubfoot;
- torticollis.
The most violent motor impairment is infantile cerebral palsy.
It should be remembered that the younger the child, the easier it is to correct the imperfection of the baby's muscle tone. Therefore, the earlier the parents turned to the neurologist and noticed in their child the features of the development of the motor system, the more successful the result of the treatment is until the full recovery.