Treatment

Treatment options for people with CP are unfortunately still relatively limited. One of the most exciting recent discoveries stems from the body’s own ability to repair itself. Evidence of branching axons in the "corticospinal-tract…in some children with CP has provided an exciting demonstration of the plasticity of the damaged central nervous system"(7). Axon branching may serve to replace input motor neurons in the spinal cord, which are lost in CP patients, but this is a preliminary hypothesis that needs to be tested more(7).

• Botulinum Toxin A: a neurotransmitter blocking agent that is injected directly into the affected muscles of people with spastic CP. All recent studies have shown this to be moderately effective in improving the quality of life, although dosage management is still being clinically experimented with(8,9,10).
• Surgery: Muscle-tendon surgery is used to help extend the limb’s range of motion, but only small improvements are made through using this method. A seemingly even more radical surgery involves placing a pump with a catheter under the skin, so that there is a continuous dosage of baclofen, which helps to control spasticity. However, this treatment is not yet proven to be any more effective than rigorous physical therapy alone(11,12).
• Braces: Spinal braces are somewhat specialized to the individual to help with sitting, holding the neck up, and breathing easier, and limb braces are used to help control motor movements(13).

--Various physical therapy treatments are employed with all of the above options as well.