low muscle tone

[westie]

low muscle tone

 

does your child have low muscle tone, what problems does this cause and had any specific exercises/ action been recommended and has this helped?

Thanks

Debbie

[Flora]

Hi westie, William has low muscle tone. He always ends up with aches and pains in his joints. He gets terrible pains in his legs, wrists and hands. Swimming and cyling have been advised, also it was suggested he should use a trampoline. He's also got very flexible joints, he can wrap his legs round the back of his head and he has double jointed thumbs!

 

Swimming and cycling are good forms of exercise because they don't put any stress on the joints.

 

Lauren

[Bagpuss]

Hi Debbie,

 

Our daughter has muscular dystrophy as well as autism so has low muscle tone and muscle weakness as a result. She has regular physio, done by us daily and also physio sessions monthly. She goes to hydrotherapy weekly. She also has weakness in her ankles, so she has support boots, which are supplied by orthotist. We try and keep her as active as possible, with swimming, trampoling etc etc. She uses a wheelchair for long distances, days out etc. The physio we do with her daily are a range of stretching exercises specifically for her legs, pelvis etc.

 

Take care,

 

Debs

[Kathryn]

Hi Westie,

 

My daughter has always had joint hypermobility and has recently been diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos syndrome. She is often in pain and has difficulty walking and gets tired easily. She sees a physio and has various leg exercises to do to strengthen her muscles which have to work particularly hard to compensate for the collagen weakness. Swimming has been recommended as the best form of activity because of the support the water gives.

 

K

[Ian Jordan]

it is a good idea to check if the problem with muscle tone is a symptom of a VISUAL difficulty.

easily done - get the child to hold a weight in each hand with the light on / off. if the weight appears to change when switching then the muscle tone problem needs to be addressed using visual techniques either as an addition or as a primary treatment.

Some of the techniques will be shown at the OTs national conference this year for the first time so it is unlikely that yours will have heard of modifying visual input in sensory integration.

 

Gait and posture problems will sometimes resolve immediately too but needs a professional to assess

[Flora]

I know with William it is definately visual. When he was being assessed for vision therapy a couple of years ago he was asked to close his eyes, the optometrist then put a thing on his back (can't remember what it's called but it applies a certain amount of pressure) and he fell over. After a course of vision therapy he did the same test and this time he was able to keep his balance.

 

Lauren

[Lynden]

Logan has hypotonia. For him it means he didn't walk till two weeks ago (he's 2 and 9 months) and he's still really wobbly. He does have stability boots from orthotics, and will need splints once his walking is established. He also has problems with fine motor skills, his grip is clumsy.

 

He's extremely bendy - you wouldn't believe the positions he can get into has he also has extremely flexible joints.

 

We got some core stability exercises from OT which have definitely helped, and other exercises to deal with his other motor skills. We also take him swimming which helps.

 

Lynne x

[jb1964]

Logan has hypotonia. For him it means he didn't walk till two weeks ago (he's 2 and 9 months) and he's still really wobbly.

Lynne x

 

Hi Lynden,

 

What is exactly is hypotonia - I can remember the Paed. years ago c.c me a letter (when he was referring my daughter about something totally irrelevant) and I'm sure it said that she was 'slightly hypotonic' (but he never told us what that was) - someone has also mentioned in the past about her having poor muscle tone and wondered if thats something to do with this

 

Many thanks,

Jb

[Lynden]

hypotonia is basically the posh name for poor muscle tone.

 

http://www.cafamily.org.uk/Direct/h63.html

 

With Logan he was very floppy and very flexible. Its meant that his gross motor skills have been hugely delayed. He could sit etc, but had very poor posture and was almost bent double. He didn't crawl till around 18 months and is just now thinking about walking. His posture is still poor when he's sitting although now we've starting doing core stability exercises he can sit up straighter.

 

Lynne

Edited April 30, 2006 by Lynden

[rainbow queen]

is hyper mobile the same-what my son got told he had.

he wore pedro boots and couldnt stand and walk for ages -very behind -he hasnt much strength in his legs or arms at all .

[bid]

My son was diagnosed with too high muscle tone when he was little.

 

When his reflexes were tested he almost kicked the Dr in the face!!

 

Bid