Spastic Cerebral Palsy

An illustration spilt into 3 sections. The first illustrates hemiplegia with two figures standing side by side and one half of the body highlighted. The second figure  illustrates diplegia with both legs of the body highlighted while the third figure illustrates quadriplegia with the whole body highlighted.
SPASTIC CEREBRAL PALSY

Spastic CP is the most common type of cerebral palsy. People will experience increased muscle tone and their movements may appear stiff or awkward. Different parts of the body can be affected:

  • Spastic hemiplegia/hemiparesis typically affects the arm, hand, and leg on one side of the body.
  • Spastic diplegia/diparesis involves muscle stiffness that is predominantly in the legs. The arms maybe affected to a lesser extent
  • Spastic quadriplegia/quadriparesis is the most severe form of CP. It is caused by widespread damage to the brain or significant brain malformations.

Spasticity is a team sport. You need to have a group of involved parents, involved therapists and physicians working to identify the goals. The groundwork is set by the physical therapist, and there may be various options that are provided for your child or for yourself.

Dr. Deborah Gaebler-Spira