What are the different types of cerebral palsy? Cerebral palsy is a disorder of the brain. It affects everyone, but mostly the young and children. This exhibits the lack of control of movements. There are many different types of cerebral palsy that are characterized by different symptoms as well. These types of cerebral palsy take time to diagnose, as there are other symptoms that one can mistake this for. To be safe, get to know the many different types of cerebral palsy and be able to deal with them better.
Acquired types of cerebral palsy are those that result from injuries that happened after the child is born. These are those that are acquired after the birth of a child, hence the name. These are not one of the common types, but about 20% of the children who suffers have acquired cerebral palsy.
Congenital types of cerebral palsy are, well, those that are acquired at birth or during the mother’s pregnancy. There are different causes of these types of cerebral palsy. They can be caused by infections or bacteria that affected the mother during the pregnancy as well as damage that happens during birth. Jaundice is an early stage of cerebral palsy. If this isn’t cured, the child will grow up having the ailment.
Spastic types of cerebral palsy are the most common of all the different types as it is accounted for 80% of the incidents of cerebral palsy. Children who have this will have limited movement. The child will then have a hard time gripping objects as muscles tend to be too tight that he or she cannot move them easily. This can result from the child having a hard time moving in general.
Athetoid types of cerebral palsy are those that affect the parts of the brain that transmit sensory and motor signals. From all parts of the brain, the cerebellum is affected by this type. This is why the child who is suffering from this will have a hard time in coordinating his or her movement. This can also cause involuntary movement of the face muscles and the hand muscles as well. Among all the people who have cerebral palsy, 10% of them have this type.
Ataxic types of cerebral palsy are those that are characterized by poor muscle tone. There will be allowed movement but they are poorly coordinated. Children who have this can be shaky and unstable. Some other symptoms include tremors, wide gaited walking, and poor coordination. Therefore, their perception and sensory skills tend to slow down. This is a rare type though. From all the people who have cerebral palsy, this accounts for only 5%.
Mixed cerebral palsy is characterized by a combination of any of the different types of cerebral palsy. This can be caused by a multitude of reasons, but mostly because the areas of the brain that were affected were a lot, therefore impairing many different skills of the child. The most common mixes of the mixed cerebral palsy are spastic cerebral palsy and the athetoid cerebral palsy.