What Do It Mean When a Baby Have Stiff Muscles

What is Hypertonia (and Hypotonia)?

What are Hypertonia and Hypotonia?

Hypertonia and hypotonia are two very similar words that take opposite meanings. Both words relate to problems with someone's muscle tone, with the term "tonia" literally meaning "muscle tension". When nosotros use the muscles in our trunk, nosotros are repeatedly stretching and contracting them as nosotros motion.

Recollect of a safe band. When nosotros stretch, the tension on our muscles increases. This is why we feel resistance. With hypertonia and hypotonia, the muscle tension is abnormal. Let'due south suspension down these weather condition to understand how they impact people differently.

What is Hypertonia?

The term "hyper" ways over, above, or excessive. Hypertonia is when someone has as well much musculus tone in their body, making information technology hard to flex and move around normally. People with hypertonia will accept issues with strong movements, rest, walking and reaching. In some cases, someone tin too have problems with feeding. There are ii main types of hypertonia:

• Spastic hypertonia: This type of hypertonia causes the torso to have random and uncontrollable musculus spasms. The spasms can affect one or multiple muscle groups throughout the torso. The primary crusade of this type comes from injury to the spinal cord or brain, which is often associated with the condition of cerebral palsy.
• Dystonic hypertonia: This blazon is associated with musculus rigidity and lack of flexibility. A person with dystonic hypertonia tin can take an involuntary posture due to their disability to stretch the muscles. Dystonic hypertonia is commonly associated with Parkinson's Illness. (This condition is sometimes misdiagnosed with Sandifer syndrome which also has dystonic movements.)
  

What Causes Hypertonia in Babies?

The underlying cause of hypertonia is an injury to a baby's central nervous system. This injury can occur while developing in the womb, during the delivery process, or shortly afterwards birth. A damaged primal nervous system cannot communicate properly to the motor pathways, making the body unable to command its musculus tone and reflexes.

Hypertonia is closely associated with birth injuries, such as an injury to the head or lack of oxygen while traveling down the birth canal. This is as well why hypertonia is often diagnosed along with cerebral palsy, another condition that develops due to brain impairment from a birth injury. Hypertonia can also be caused by diseases like Parkinson's.

How is Hypertonia Treated?

Treatment for hypertonia usually consists of dissimilar types of musculus relaxant medications and continuous physical therapy. The iii almost popular medications used to treat the condition are Baclofen, Diazepam, and Dantrolene. Some patients use special injections to directly treat an affected muscle. The type of specific treatment for someone also depends on the underlying cause of their condition.

What is the Prognosis of Hypertonia?

The prognosis for this condition volition depend on the cause and severity. If hypertonia is acquired past cerebral palsy, the symptoms are known equally non-progressive, meaning they will not worsen over time and they tin often be managed with therapy and medication. If hypertonia is caused by a condition like Parkinson's, the symptoms tin increase as the illness progresses.

Mild hypertonia may non crusade whatsoever significant issues in life. Moderate hypertonia may get worse from falls or joint contractures, which can impact a person'south health. Severe hypertonia may cause permanent mobility issues and increased bone fragility. People with severe hypertonia might have to stay in one position for long periods of time, which puts them at risk of bedsores and pneumonia.

What is Hypotonia?

Now that y'all know "hyper" means excessive, it only makes sense that "hypo" means under or less. Hypotonia causes decreased muscle tone and increased flexibility, making the body seem floppy or limp. Hypertonia is also known as "floppy infant syndrome".

A child with hypotonia will have issues lifting their limbs and performing fine and gross motor activities. This means they may have trouble sitting upwardly with no support, feeding themselves, and using coordinated and controlled movements. The joints will feel extremely flexible, like how some people are double-jointed.

What Causes Hypotonia in Babies?

The underlying cause for hypotonia is the aforementioned as hypertonia in the sense that at that place is abnormal neurological control of muscle tone. Only similar hypertonia, this neurological harm is often caused past birth injuries, but can also stem from serious infections, such equally meningitis. Head and spinal cord injuries are the most common injuries that occur when someone develops this status. Cerebral palsy is nevertheless closely associated with hypotonia, and the ii diagnoses often go together. Other neurological issues that tin can crusade hypotonia include

• Muscular dystrophy
• Myasthenia gravis
• Spinal muscular cloudburst
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

How is Hypotonia Treated?

Treatment for hypotonia will depend on the crusade of the condition. Like we mentioned above, hypotonia stemming from cerebral palsy is not-progressive. Other neurological conditions may improve or become worse over fourth dimension. In general, however, handling is focused on improving and supporting muscle function. Common treatments include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Moderate to severe cases of hypotonia may require a person to use special equipment to help them stay mobile.

What is the Prognosis for Hypotonia?

The prognosis of hypotonia will change depending on the cause of the condition, the type of affect it has on a person's life, and their overall health. Hypotonia can be a life-long condition for many people, but in some cases, a person's muscle tone can better over time. Hypotonia caused past infection, prematurity, or myasthenia gravis has a better prognosis than other causes, such equally cerebral palsy.

Can Hypertonia or Hypotonia be Prevented?

Currently, there is no way to prevent hypertonia from occurring, especially if it was caused past a birth injury. Hypotonia, however, may be able to be prevented through early diagnosing and treating underlying conditions, unless it developed from brain injury. Unfortunately, damage to the encephalon early on in life can be extremely difficult or impossible to correct, which is why both weather condition are known for beingness permanent.

Outlook With Hypertonia and Hypertonia

The treatment and prognosis of the status will be unique to each person depending on the underlying crusade and how it impacts their life. Hypotonia may be able to improve with pharmacologics and therapy. Simply the underlying weather condition are normally permanent.

Sources and Additional Literature

• Dy, R., & Roge, D. (2019). Medical Updates in Direction of Hypertonia. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics, 31(one), 57-68 (a look at pharmacologic therapies in the handling of hypertonia)
• Mercuri, East., et al. (2019). Neonatal hypotonia and neuromuscular conditions. In Handbook of clinical neurology (Vol. 162, pp. 435-448). Elsevier (diagnosing hypotonia early to place the need for early intervention).
• Hart, A. R., et al. (2015). Neonatal hypertonia-a diagnostic challenge. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 57(7), 600-610.
• Sparks, South. Due east. (2015). Neonatal hypotonia. Clinics in perinatology, 42(ii), 363-371.
• Francisco GE, et. al: Consensus panel recommendations for the use of intrathecal baclofen therapy in mail-stroke spastic hypertonia. Summit Stroke Rehabil 2006; 13: 74-85.
• Scher, 1000. Southward. (2008). Neonatal hypertonia: I. Nomenclature and structural-functional correlates. Pediatric neurology, 39(5), 301-306 (baclofen decreases spasticity but too reduced excitability of neural structures underlying voluntary motor tasks)
• Horn TS, et.al: Outcome of intrathecal baclofen bolus injection on gait in persons with lower extremity spastic hypertonia due to acquired encephalon injury: temporo-spatial outcomes. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2005; 86: 1127-33 (institute that ITB bolus injection reduces spasticity just does non necessarily improve the patient'south ability to walk)
• Yablon SA, et al: Neurophysiologic evaluation of spastic hypertonia: Implications for management of the patient with the intrathecal baclofen pump. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2004;83(Suppl):S10-18.

What Do It Mean When a Baby Have Stiff Muscles

Source: https://www.birthinjuryhelpcenter.org/hypertonia.html

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