Does it matter if my baby has dystonia? Is it a disease?

Recently, I was chatting with parents backstage and found that some of them were a little anxious. It turned out that during the physical examination, the child care doctor said that the baby had high muscle tone, which seemed to be quite serious, and asked him to go home and do some exercises. When I searched online for information about high muscle tone, I was frightened to tears and worried that my baby would have cerebral palsy… Some parents found that the baby\’s fists were clenched tightly, the toes were buckled, the head was tilted back, and the hands were flying, etc., and they wondered whether the baby had muscle tone. High tension. Seeing everyone so nervous, Naotao really can\’t bear it. Today I\’m going to give you some popular science about the baby\’s \”muscle tone\”. What is muscle tone? Muscle tone literally means muscle tension. In fact, it refers to the degree of tension of the muscle when it is in a resting and relaxed state. Muscle tone is the basis for maintaining various postures and normal movements of the body, and is expressed in various forms. When doctors perform physical examinations on babies, they often move the baby\’s limbs and judge the baby\’s muscle tone through the degree of resistance encountered when the limbs and joints are curled up, stretched and other movements in a passive state. What is hypertonia? Muscle tension maintains the body in various postures and normal movements. Once the muscle tension is too high, some abnormal postures will occur due to hypertonia, and limb activities will also be restricted. High muscle tone often manifests as adduction of the shoulder joints of the upper limbs, flexion of the elbow and wrist joints, flexion of the fingers into a fist, and adduction of the thumbs; straightening of the lower limbs, difficulty in thigh abduction, and plantar flexion of the ankle joints. It is difficult to straighten the lower limbs forward when sitting, the toes touch the ground when standing, tiptoeing when walking, scissor-like gait, etc. If the baby only occasionally appears in this posture and can return to normal after being guided by the parents, it is probably not high muscle tone; but if the baby still maintains this state when relaxed and cannot be restored after guidance, it is likely to be true muscle tone. If it is high, you should go to a children\’s hospital to see a professional neurologist for examination and confirmation. Possible reasons for being accused of \”high muscle tone\” (1) Normal reactions in special periods. Newborn babies have relatively high flexor muscle tone throughout their bodies, but most of their physical activities are natural reactions of the body, also called reflex behaviors. For example, the hug reflex is manifested by a sudden change of head position or tilting back. When frightened by a loud or sudden sound, the person will stretch his arms to both sides, open his hands, then quickly retract his arms and hug himself in front of him, and then cry loudly. The degree of reaction of the hug reflex in each baby is different. It is common before the full moon and disappears around 2 months old. Tonic neck reflex, also known as the \”fencing posture\”, when the baby\’s head is pointed to one side, the arm on the same side will straighten and the arm on the other side will bend. This reflex will disappear when the baby is about 5 to 7 months old. The \”extremely powerful\” grasping reflex disappears from birth until around 5 to 6 months of age; the \”toe-to-the-ground\” stepping reflex disappears from around 9 to 12 months of age. (2) Emotional resistance Sometimes babies appear to have \”high muscle tone\”, probably because they don\’t like their parents to touch them like this. When the baby feels uncomfortable, the body will naturally resist. If a parent holds a baby horizontally and the baby does not want to, he will forcefully tilt his head back, which is what parents often call \”thrust\”. When held upright, sat upright or relaxed, the baby\’s muscle tone can return to normal and the baby\’s head can stand upright. Don\’t scare yourself like this. (3) Brain Disease: Some babies with cerebral palsy will have symptoms of high muscle tone in the early stages, but in many babies, high muscle tone is just a normal phenomenon of physical development. Only a few are related to cerebral palsy or brain disease. Although children with cerebral palsy may exhibit high muscle tone, not all babies with suspected high muscle tone have cerebral palsy. Moreover, \”high muscle tone\” must be determined by a professional doctor after detailed diagnosis, rather than just based on individual performance. The \”abnormal muscle tone\” of the baby mentioned by the child care doctor is probably due to the baby\’s temporary development speed being slightly slower. Because all babies have individual differences in their development speed, it doesn\’t matter as long as it is within the normal range. It is indeed difficult to make a definite diagnosis of cerebral palsy based on some minor abnormalities. What are the causes and symptoms of cerebral palsy? Cerebral palsy is primarily caused by a malformation or injury to the brain and often occurs before birth when the brain is not formed, but can also occur during childbirth or after birth. During the newborn period, if the baby has a history of premature birth or other resuscitation asphyxia, then the subsequent development of the nervous system must be paid attention to, which also involves the examination of muscle tone. If such a baby has abnormal muscle tone in the back, attention should be paid to whether there is any damage to the nervous system. Special attention should also be paid to the muscle tone issues pointed out during routine physical examinations. Cerebral palsy can occur as a result of premature birth, jaundice, or injuries during infancy, among other conditions. If the baby is born smoothly, all aspects of assessment are normal, growth and development are normal, and generally he will not suffer from cerebral palsy, then if there is a slight abnormality in muscle tone later on, most of them should be normal. Just follow up and review later. If this type of baby has obvious abnormalities in muscle tone during follow-up examinations (very few), then it is necessary to consider whether there were neurological problems in the womb, or some genetic or metabolic problems. aspects, or there is some neurological damage during the neonatal period, but no aspects have been observed. Cerebral palsy can cause many types of movement disorders with varying degrees, so symptoms and signs vary greatly. Parents can refer to the following warning signs: (1) Babies over 2 months old • When the baby is lying on his back and picked up, his head tilts back; • The whole body is stiff and inflexible; • The baby feels weak and soft all over ;• When held in the arms, the back and neck continue to lean back too much, and they feel like they are struggling;• When picked up, the legs are stiff or tightly crossed like \”scissor legs\”; (2) Babies over 10 months old• Unable to crawl. Coordination, one hand and leg is exerting force, and the other side is dragged forward; • When crawling, do not use the limbs for support, but use the buttocks, thighs or knees to support the crawling forward. If your doctor is highly suspicious, you can do an MRI to help diagnose whether there is a brain abnormality. What is hypotonia? Low muscle tone, also known as hypotonia. By observing the range of joint movement, when passively moving the joint, if the range of joint movement is large, it indicates low muscle tone. When muscle tone is low, the baby has little voluntary movement, which is similar to muscle relaxation caused by myopathy, but tendon reflexes can be elicited. Often the brainThe excessive form of sexual paralysis later mostly turns into spastic type (high muscle tone) or involuntary movement type. Low muscle tone often results in muscle contraction weakness, inability to perform effective sucking and swallowing movements; difficulty in movement, developmental delays in gross and fine movements; more difficulties in practicing sitting, crawling, and walking, etc. What causes low muscle tone? Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, neurological disorders, etc. may all exhibit hypotonia. But it does not mean that babies with low muscle tone have one of these diseases. The different degrees of hypotonia need to be determined by a professional specialist. Most babies are referred to as having slightly low muscle tone during physical examination, which may be just a slight difference within the normal development range. What should parents do? For babies who are healthy and normal at birth, don’t be overly anxious and entangled, and just follow up for follow-up examinations. Of course, you should also pay attention to babies with high-risk factors: premature babies, those with abnormalities in prenatal examinations, and asphyxia during delivery. Those with a history of rescue and hospitalization in the neonatology department after birth should be high-risk factors; early detection and early treatment; faced with babies with abnormal muscle tone, parents must be very careful every time they move the baby to avoid injury; Letting your baby lie down and play more often can promote the development of the baby\’s neck, shoulder, and back muscle movement ability, and is also good for neuromuscular development. With the help of a professional doctor, learn which exercises are more beneficial to your baby; rehabilitation training It is a long-term process, and many intervention methods require close cooperation between parents and doctors to formulate training plans and evaluate training effects; be patient with the baby\’s learning and movement movements, pay attention to every subtle change of the baby, and encourage them; if you have any questions or If in doubt, seek professional medical advice for diagnosis and training guidance. Do not blindly listen to the words of others or online charlatans, so as not to delay your condition and miss the best opportunity for treatment.