Birth Injury Attorneys

Wilkes-Barre, Sugarloaf and Hazleton, Pennsylvania

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a terrifying condition for a young mother and father to hear regarding their newborn baby. The birth injury attorneys at The Falvello Law Firm in the Berwick area of Pennsylvania are compassionate because they have experience in cerebral palsy cases and will fight to get you the compensation you deserve if your child develops CP due to medical negligence or malpractice.

What is CP?

Cerebral palsy refers to a group of many movement disorders including Erbs palsy. It a type of birth injury in which the brain was damaged. The brain damage causes a disorder that affects movement, muscle tone, and posture.

The effects of CP are usually permanent and range from mild weakness to an almost complete lack of mobility.

Types of CP

1. Spastic the most common form of CP. Spastic refers to how stiff or tight the muscles are. Muscle stiffness occurs because the message sent from the brain to the muscles passes through the damaged portion of the brain. The message received at the muscles is now wrong. 70-80% of those who have cerebral palsy are diagnosed with this type.
2. Dyskinetic this kind of CP is diagnosed in 10-20% of CP patients. Two forms of this are (1) athetosis, which has slow, uncontrolled movements, and (2) dystonia, which has muscle contractions that twist or repeat.
3. Ataxic this form of CP is least common. It is known for shaky movements along with balance and coordination issues.

In some cases, CP patients may have a combination of two or all three of these forms. Most combination patients have spastic and dystonic (a dyskinetic type of CP) movements.

Symptoms of CP

Cerebral palsy has several symptoms including:

• Continuing to display infant-like or primitive reflexes that typically fade after age 3 -6 months
• Delayed infant developmental highlights such as controlling head movement, rolling over, reaching, sitting unsupported, crawling, or walking
• Exaggerated reflexes or stiff muscles (known as spasticity)
• Lack of muscle coordination (known as ataxia)
• Preferring one hand over the other before reaching 18 months of age, since this is a sign of weakness or irregular muscle tone on one side
• Tremors
• Trouble with fine motor skills
• Trouble with speaking, sucking, or swallowing
• Uneven gait (one foot or leg drags)
• Uneven muscle tone (varying from floppy to stiff)

Treatment for CP

Even though CP cant be cured, there are a variety of treatments that can improve quality of life especially in cases of early detection. Possible treatments include:

• Braces, casts, splints, or other orthotics
• Communication supports like voice synthesizers on computers
• Medication to ease pain, manage seizures, and relax muscle spasms
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Psychotherapy
• Rolling walkers
• Speech therapy
• Surgery to correct anatomical aberrations or to loosen stiff muscles
• Wheelchairs

If your child has suffered a birth injury such as cerebral palsy, please email us at The Falvello Law Firm near Berwick, Pennsylvania. Our birth injury attorneys want to help you to get any compensation to which you are entitled which will help your childs quality of life. One of our caring, experienced lawyers will get back to you within 24 hours to discuss your case in a free initial consultation. We work on a contingency basis, so you dont pay us anything unless we settle your case.