Baby Legs Get Straight and Stiff When Changing Diaper

This page is well-nigh babies with hypertonia.  This condition, also called strong baby syndrome, is when the baby stiffens her body, near notably, her legs and arms, particularly when beingness picked up.  There are many causes for an infant to be potent and virtually of them resolve over time.  Only in a modest number of cases, a stiff baby is a sign of a nascence injury.

In this article on hypertonia:

• Causes of Stiffness
  • Hypertonia
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Erb'south Palsy and Shoulder Dystocia
  • Kernicterus
• Oft Asked Questions
• Recent Medical Studies
• Contact Miller & Zois

Being able to finally have your baby home from the infirmary is an incredible moment that symbolizes a new chapter for your family and begins the journeying of raising a child. If you notice your babe is unusually stiff within the first few days of being home, yous may be alarmed.

Most likely, it is non a big deal, particularly if your birthing process was not traumatic.  This cannot exist underscored enough. Virtually parents worrying about a potent infant having nothing to worry near.

Simply if your baby is abnormally potent, there is a small possibility that this is a symptom of a more serious underlying problem. Clinical muscle stiffness is known as hypertonia.

The nascence injury and cognitive palsy lawyers at Miller & Zois may be able to aid y'all if yous believe your infant was injured equally a result of a medical mistake during childbirth. Our lawyers accept years of experience handling these medical malpractice claims.

Below, we discuss the possible causes of hypertonia and their outcomes for patients, citing recent medical literature. To contact us for a free consultation about your instance, telephone call (800) 553-8082 or fill up out this brief online class.

Causes of Stiffness Hypertonia

Hypertonia is an umbrella term that describes when there is an abnormally high musculus tone in the baby's body. High muscle tone causes the baby to be strong and rigid, especially when held.  Newborn babies with this condition may have difficulty with mobility and flexing. A stiff baby is frequently called hypertonic or is said to have "stiff baby syndrome."

Experiencing muscle stiffness or rigidity tin can be a symptom of several dissimilar conditions that range in severity, some of which are discussed in item below. In general, hypertonia is usually caused by an insult to the encephalon, spinal cord, or nervous organization. Trauma to the baby'south caput, strokes, brain tumors, toxins, neurodegeneration, such every bit Parkinson's affliction, and neurodevelopmental abnormalities, such every bit cerebral palsy, can cause hypertonia.

"Hypertonia in infants is a symptom of multiple medical emergencies and conditions, some of which result from nativity injuries, and which must be diagnosed by a medical professional."

There are three types of hypertonia, spasticity, rigidity, and dystonia, each of which has different symptoms and underlying causes. Many healthcare providers apply spasticity and hypertonia interchangeably. Spasticity is a subtype of hypertonia that involves exaggerated reflex responses. Rigidity is when there is muscle resistance beyond the range of motion. Dystonia is characterized by involuntary, repetitive muscle contractions.

While it's important to be concerned about your baby's health, there are many causes of stiff babe syndrome that can be completely harmless and easily fixed. With more serious conditions, there are available treatments that can manage your infant's symptoms. Common treatments for hypertonia include seeing a physical therapist, muscle spasm medications, and surgeries. If yous had a prior pregnancy with no complications, there is a much lower take a chance that your infant will develop i of the conditions listed below.

"Near of the weather condition that cause hypertonia are curable or treatable."

If you lot're concerned about your baby, the best way to continue is to talk to your pediatrician as soon as possible. There are many explanations equally to why your babe is hypertonic, and your pediatrician can conduct the appropriate diagnostic tests to determine what is causing the hypertonia. Nosotros hash out some common causes of hypertonia below.

Cerebral Palsy

Cognitive palsy (CP) is a medical status that can develop as a issue of brain damage during childbirth. During commitment, if the baby experiences reduced blood flow to the brain over an extended menstruum, the infant becomes hypoxic. Hypoxia is the term that describes when a office of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. This lack of oxygen amercement the motor control centers of the brain and causes CP. The symptoms of this condition include muscle stiffness, rigidity, and spasticity.

"Cerebral palsy is one of the virtually mutual nascency injuries cited in medical malpractice cases."

There are four types of CP. Spastic cognitive palsy is the most common type of cognitive palsy and it is characterized past hypertonic muscles. Having spastic cerebral palsy may touch on the child'south ability to move, walk, or utilize their hands because they don't accept control of their muscles. Their muscles may also have involuntary movements or be pulled towards a certain side of the body. This status is permanent but at that place are a broad variety of treatments that tin mitigate and manage the symptoms.

Erb's Palsy and Shoulder Dystocia

Erb'due south palsy is a unlike blazon of birth injury that involves the role of the nerves. Erb'southward palsy is not acquired by lack of oxygen just instead occurs when the nerves in the infant's upper arm, shoulder, or side of the cervix (known as the brachial plexus) are physically damaged while descending through the nativity culvert. This nerve harm often happens when a baby experiences shoulder dystocia during delivery.

Shoulder dystocia is when the baby'due south shoulders get stuck during labor, typically on the mother's pelvic os. Medical professionals have to perform certain maneuvers to exist able to deliver the babe, but these maneuvers can be damaging. Pulling on the head, using forceps, or using vacuum extraction may harm the nerves in the brachial plexus and limit or completely restrict the communication between the brain and the shoulder, arm, and hand. For this reason, shoulder dystocia tin can result in medical malpractice. Erb'south palsy symptoms include musculus stiffness, arm weakness, decreased grip, impaired circulatory development, or paralysis of the arm.

Kernicterus

Kernicterus is a type of preventable brain injury that occurs as a result of untreated jaundice in newborn babies. Most babies experience jaundice shortly afterwards being born, with lx-fourscore% of infants in the Us being afflicted. Premature babies are more than probable to have jaundice. The condition is usually harmless, and most babies are quickly treated with no complications. Jaundice is easily recognizable because it causes a baby'southward peel to plow a xanthous-orangish color. This skin color comes from a build-upwards of bilirubin in the blood, a waste product that's produced when your liver breaks down erstwhile blood cells.

With proper monitoring after nascence, jaundice is non a crusade for concern. Information technology'south a natural role of the babe'south body adjusting to the world later nativity.

In rare cases, if the jaundice is not treated by the kid's md and is immune to progress, a baby can start to accumulate loftier levels of bilirubin, which can lead to encephalon injury. Since balmy neonatal jaundice is such a common occurrence, in that location have been cases of healthcare providers neglecting to screen for excessive bilirubin in a baby's claret.

Kernicterus symptoms include reduced musculus tone, muscle stiffness and spasms, fever, and unusual eye movements. If your baby is exhibiting signs of kernicterus, it'south important to seek out medical help to forbid serious complications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my baby so potent?

The condition of having abnormally potent muscles that are hard to motility is called hypertonia. Information technology unremarkably resolves quickly. In infants, hypertonia tin be caused by a multitude of health bug, but typically results from harm to the nervous organization. Hypertonia is also a symptom of cerebral palsy, Erb's palsy, and kernicterus (jaundice).

Why does my baby stiffen when held?

If your baby overextends their head and neck when held, this may be an early sign that they have cerebral palsy, a congenital musculus disorder. Another sign of cerebral palsy is when the baby stiffens or crosses their legs when they are picked up.

Why does my baby have stiff legs and arms?

1 of the early on signs of cognitive palsy, a built musculus disorder, is when a baby'due south legs stiffen, scissor, or cantankerous when they are picked upward. To read more than about this condition, see the description above or click here.

How tin I tell if my child has cognitive palsy?

The cause of cerebral palsy is often a traumatic nascency, so in that location is less of a chance your child has CP if their birth was normal. Muscle stiffness is an early sign of cerebral palsy in infants less than 6 months old, merely it may exist attributable to another result or condition.

If your child does have cerebral palsy, they volition begin to evidence more than pronounced developmental delays, such as trouble with crawling, standing, picking upwardly objects, and visual attention.

What is the handling for hypertonia?

There are many treatment options for hypertonicity, including therapy, oral antispastic agents, nerve blocks, and surgery.

Any hypertonia treatment plan begins with therapeutic practice to improve range of movement. Therapeutic practice includes a variety of treatment techniques that are used to decrease or inhibit tone. There is also some evidence to back up the benefits of music therapy.

There are likewise a number of medications that improve spasticity. These include baclofen, benzodiazepines, dantrolene, clonidine, and tizanidine. Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy has been shown to reduce spasticity and improve general functioning.

Surgery is also an pick in some cases to improve function and appearance. The surgical process often involves tendon lengthening or transfer.

Recent Medical Studies

Below are some recent medical studies on hypertonia/potent babies.

• Case study on the employ of intensive pediatric neurorehabilitation in the treatment of kernicterus by Jessie Isle of man et al., Journal of Clinical Motion Disorders, 2020. Kernicterus, a result of untreated jaundice, is ane condition that causes hypertonia. This case study looks at one instance of a boy with kernicterus and how his condition was treated. A treatment program for this condition may include occupational, speech communication, and physical therapy. The boy in this case written report was as well being treated with stem prison cell therapy. Researchers found he had success with an intensive, iv hours per day for iii weeks of therapy.
• Spinal Hyper-Excitability and Altered Muscle Structure Contribute to Musculus Hypertonia in Newborns Afterward Antenatal Hypoxia-Ischemia in a Rabbit Cerebral Palsy Model past Sylvia Synoweic et al., Frontiers in Neurology, 2019. The researchers in this written report wanted to better understand what causes high musculus tone in newborn babies afterwards they feel oxygen deprivation. The researchers tested numerous mechanisms in rabbits. They found that muscle resistance to stretching is primarily explained by changes to the passive properties of muscles. In other words, while y'all might expect that damage to the nerves and their power to communicate would be the most important factor in explaining hypertonia, the passive mechanics of muscles, such as their elasticity, is just as important if non more than then.
• Management of hypertonia in cognitive palsy by Nickolas Nahm et al., Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 2018. This commodity is a review of the treatments available to treat hypertonia. Though these treatments are specific to cognitive palsy patients, many apply to other children and adults who suffer from hypertonia. These treatments include botulinum toxin (Botox) injections, baclofen, and rhizotomy surgery. According to the authors, the best form of treatment depends on the patient and their goals.
• "Neonatal hypertonia–a diagnostic challenge" by Anthony Hart et al., Developmental Medicine & Kid Neurology, 2014. This study is one of the most comprehensive overviews of the diagnosis of newborn hypertonia. The authors present a diagnostic approach in the form of a flow chart to assistance healthcare providers in the difficult process of diagnosing this condition. Diagnosis is based on family unit history, medical history, and current symptoms. For each possible diagnosis, the authors diagram the corresponding historic period of onset, symptoms, and what to test for.

Contact Miller & Zois Well-nigh Nascency Injuries

If y'all believe your babe was injured during nascence, you and your kid may be entitled to financial bounty from the healthcare providers or hospital that handled the delivery. If your child has a lifelong injury, this money tin change the quality of life that your child will take.

Calling a lawyer may also permit you to find out what really happened to your child. At Miller & Zois, our birth injury and cognitive palsy lawyers take many years of experience handling these cases. Telephone call the birth injury lawyers at Miller & Zois at 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.

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