Hypertonicity is a violation of the muscle tone of the body, which is expressed in muscle strain. Almost all babies are born with severe muscle hypertonicity. After all, during the inside of the womb, the baby is constantly in the fetal position. The limbs and chin in this position are closely pressed to the body and the fetal muscles are constantly tensed.
Until about six months, the baby’s nervous system “learns” to work in conditions different from intrauterine. The kid gradually develops and slowly begins to control the movements of his muscles and skeleton.In a month-old baby, hypertonicity is very pronounced. This is shown in the clamped cams and bent legs, in throwing the head back. The tone of the extensor muscles in the monthly infants is higher than the flexors.
With physiological hypertonicity, the child's legs move apart only by 450 each one. With the legs moved, a pronounced resistance to movement is felt. By three months, muscle hypertonicity in a child without pathologies practically disappears. If after a child reaches six months, muscle tension persists, you need to urgently consult a doctor.
Symptoms of Hypertonicity
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Complications during pregnancy, birth injury, Rh conflict, incompatibility of the blood of parents, residence with poor environmental conditions and many other factors will cause hypertension. It is worth paying attention to the symptoms of hypertension, because this can be an expression of a serious neurological disease.
Signs of severe hypertension:
- Restless and short sleep.
- In the supine position, the head is thrown back, and arms and legs are tightened.
- When trying to spread the legs or arms of the baby, strong resistance is felt. The child is crying. Secondary dilution enhances muscle resistance.
- Vertically on a hard surface, the child tries to stand on the forefoot, i.e. stands on tiptoe (Information: if the baby is tiptoeing).
- When crying, the child throws his head back, bends and at the same time his chin muscles tremble (See article about chin tremors).
- Frequent spitting up.
- Painful reaction to various stimuli: light, sound.
- From birth, the baby “holds” the head due to the constant tension of the neck muscles.
It is important to determine that the child has hypertonicity as early as possible. Detection of at least one of the above symptoms in a baby is a good reason to turn to a pediatric neurologist. The diagnosis of “hypertonicity” will be made if the flexion tone is higher than it should be at a given age.
Muscle hypertonicity is determined by several reflex tests:
- Sitting down: it is impossible to take the baby's arms from the chest.
- Step reflex.In an upright position, the child is as if trying to take a step. Persists after two months.
- Reflex support: while standing, the child rests on the toes.
- Persistence after three months of asymmetric and symmetrical reflexes. When bending the head to the chest while lying on the back, the child's arms are bent and legs are unbent. When turning the head to the left in the same position, the left arm is extended forward, the left leg is unbent, and the right is bent. When tilted to the right side, everything is repeated in mirror image.
- Preservation after three months of a tonic reflex: lying on your back, the child straightens the limbs, and bends them on the stomach.
If by a certain age these reflexes do not weaken, and in the future do not disappear, then the child has pronounced muscle hypertonicity. Therefore, you must consult a doctor.
In detail about newborn reflexes
Consequences and danger
Why is hypertonicity so dangerous if its occurrence is caused by the position of the fetus? Physiological hypertonicity disappears after three months. Pathological hypertonicity is caused by damage to brain tissues, which are responsible for the state of muscles. Such disorders occur with increased intracranial pressure, perinatal encephalopathy, increased irritability and other pathologies.
If after three months the hypertension in children persists, the consequences, if untreated, are deplorable. The lack of regulation of muscle tone will affect the further development of the child:
- Lack of coordination of movements;
- Formation of irregular gait;
- Incorrect posture formation;
- Lag in development, especially motor skills;
- Speech impairment.
Hypertonicity of the legs
It is especially dangerous if the child has severe hypertonicity of the legs. It affects the rate of development of motor activity. Kids with this diagnosis later begin crawl and to walk. For babies with foot hypertonia, use is especially contraindicated. walkers and jumpers. These devices enhance the state of muscle tension in the legs and spine due to the uneven distribution of gravity. The load increases precisely on the muscles of the pelvis and spine.
Hypertonicity of the hands
Hypertonicity of the hands is expressed in muscle resistance when the arms are removed from the chest, tightly compressed fists. This condition is most often observed with physiological hypertonicity. However, prolonged preservation of tension in the muscles should concern the parents of the child.
See video:
Treatment
The correct and timely treatment of hypertension is carried out exclusively by a specialist doctor - a pediatric neurologist. All procedures are prescribed only by the attending physician. The sooner you start treatment, the better and faster the positive results will appear.
There are several techniques and directions in medicine that allows you to remove hypertonicity:
- Relaxing massage.
- Physiotherapy.
- Electrophoresis
- Paraffin baths (heat treatment).
- Swimming.
- Drug treatment.
As can be seen from the list, medications are the last to remove hypertonicity. These are drugs that relax muscles, reduce their tone and diuretics to lower brain fluid levels. In addition to massage, dibazole and B vitamins can be prescribed.
Massage
Massage for hypertonicity can be carried out independently at home, starting at two weeks of age. Naturally, you must first consult with a specialist in children's massage and get instructions and recommendations on how to conduct a massage from him. In total, ten sessions are held, which in six months is best repeated again.
Massage consists of three types of exposure methods: stroking, rubbing and swaying:
- With the back of your hand we stroke the surface of the arms, legs and back. You can alternate superficial stroking with your fingers with a sweeping stroking of the entire brush.
- Circular rubbing of the skin. The baby is laid on the tummy and fingers make circular grinding with dashed movements from the bottom up. Then they do the same with the limbs, turning the child on his back.
- Take the baby by the hand and shake it lightly. In this case, you should definitely hold your hand in the forearm. Perform the procedure with both arms and legs.
- Take the baby by the hand above the wrist and shake hands rhythmically in different directions.
- Grab the child’s legs by the legs and shake.
- Finish the massage by gently stroking the arms and legs.
With hypertonicity, one cannot apply deep kneading of muscles, pats and chopping techniques. All movements should be smooth and relaxing, but rhythmic.
Video: how to massage with hypertonicity
Bathtubs
An excellent tool for relieving hypertonicity are herbal baths. Water in itself has a relaxing property, and in combination with herbs it becomes an excellent remedy for hypertonicity. In turn, for four days they conduct warm baths with valerian root, a leaf of lingonberry, motherwort and sage. One day, a break is made, the procedures are repeated again and so on for 10 days. Coniferous baths also have an excellent relaxing effect.
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Regarding the number of sessions, you also need to consult a specialist! Minimum - 10, and someone needs 12-15. Depending on the characteristics of the development of the child. By the way, children's skin can not be heavily rubbed. Rubbing is not used at all in massage of newborn children. Use kneading.
My friend’s pregnancy was very difficult, since she and her baby had different blood types. After birth, hypertension was diagnosed. The treatment is difficult, the massages helped them very well.
We have been doing leg and arm gymnastics since birth, and this problem has bypassed us. Although this is the first time I've heard about hypertonicity, we weren’t even told about this in a pediatric consultation. It’s good that there are such useful sites.
Hypertonicity is very common in many babies. My son also had a massage and baths with sea salt. In a month, everything returned to normal. A massage in general is useful for all children, the main thing is that a specialist does it or at least shows how to do it correctly.
When my daughter was small, we simply stroked her legs, arms, back. In the majority of children, hypertonicity passes quickly. But if the disease does not go away, of course, you need to contact specialists so that the child, becoming an adult, does not suffer from the consequences. I once saw a guy of about 17 years old, he was walking on his toes. Either parents did not attend to the treatment at the time, or the treatment did not help at the time.
My daughter has hypertonicity, tell me children with such a diagnosis go when they grow under?
Julia, find a massage specialist. Children with such a diagnosis go, but this is a malfunction of all organs and systems, and primarily affects the development of the brain !!!!! I’m telling you as a specialist !!!!
Please tell me if the child is already 5 years old and he walks on a cypochtachti badly says can I still help? We live in a village, experts didn’t say anything, but they’ll fly by reading an article