What are the main symptoms of cerebral palsy in children?

Cerebral palsy is a type of childhood paralysis. People with cerebral palsy have damage to the central nervous system of the brain at birth, and the symptoms gradually spread to the limbs. Cerebral palsy in children is a congenital disease. If the parents themselves suffer from a disease, or if they smoke or drink alcohol for a long time, their children may suffer from cerebral palsy. Sometimes premature babies are also at risk of developing cerebral palsy.

Main symptoms:

(1) Movement disorders: The patient has poor motor self-control ability. In severe cases, the patient cannot grasp objects with his hands or walk with his feet. Some patients cannot even turn over, sit up, stand, or chew and swallow normally.

(2) Postural disorders: Various abnormal postures, poor posture stability, the head cannot be straightened at 3 months, and is accustomed to leaning to one side, or swaying left and right, front and back. The child does not like to take a bath and has difficulty opening his fist when washing his hands.

(3) Intellectual Disability: About 1/4 of the children have normal intelligence, about 1/2 have mild or moderate intellectual disability, and about 1/4 have severe intellectual disability.

(4) Language barriers: difficulty in language expression, unclear pronunciation or stuttering.

(5) The most common visual and auditory impairments include esotropia and difficulty in distinguishing the rhythm of sounds.

(6) Growth and development disorders and short stature.

(7) Developmental disorders cause teeth to be loose and easily broken. Orofacial dysfunction, with spasms or sometimes uncoordinated contractions of the facial and tongue muscles, difficulty chewing and swallowing, difficulty closing the mouth, and drooling.

(8) Emotional and behavioral disorders: Stubbornness, willfulness, irritability, and withdrawal, with mood swings and sometimes compulsive, self-harming, and aggressive behaviors.

(9) 39% to 50% of children with cerebral palsy develop epilepsy due to fixed lesions in the brain, especially those with severe intellectual disability.

Children with cerebral palsy will have certain disabilities in all aspects from birth. They have poor self-control ability, and in severe cases they cannot even stand. They will also have symptoms of stuttering. Children with cerebral palsy will also be shorter than ordinary people, so parents should pay attention to maintaining good living habits before having children.