Causes of increased tone in the arms of an 8-month-old child. What will the lack of treatment of hypertension in infants lead to? What are the consequences of muscular dystonia

Immediately after birth, babies enter a completely new world, unusual for them. The fetal position is a completely normal position for newborn babies. Within 2-3 months after birth, the baby should gradually straighten its limbs, getting used to the world around it. If this does not happen after three months from birth, parents should be wary. Excessive tension in the muscles of the baby in some cases indicates violations in the development of his nervous system that cause hypertonicity.

Hypertonicity in infants - what is it?

Muscle hypertonicity is a restriction of voluntary motor function in an infant, caused by certain disorders in the development of the brain and peripheral nerve. According to statistics, nine out of ten newborns have impaired muscle tone. In the case of hypertonicity, there is usually resistance to passive movements of the arms and legs. Specialists distinguish general hypertonicity of the muscles, that is, of the whole organism, hemite hypertonicity, when the movement of one arm or leg is limited. In medical practice, hypertonicity occurs only in the hands or only in the legs.

Causes of muscle hypertonicity

In each newborn with such a diagnosis, the causes of the development of hypertonicity are very different. The appearance of restrictions on the mobility of the infant's limbs in some cases provokes protracted labor or certain diseases that the mother suffered during the bearing of the child. Among common factors, which cause the appearance of hypertonicity, emit:

oxygen starvation(hypoxia) during the period of gestation;
diseases suffered by the mother during pregnancy;
chronic diseases of the mother;
very tight or quick delivery in which the child experiences excessive pressure or lack of oxygen;
incompatibility of Rh factors in parents.

Symptoms and signs of hypertension in infants

Tension in the muscles of an infant up to a certain age is a natural physiological phenomenon. However, when, after 2-3 months of life, the arms and legs remain limited in movement, this becomes a reason to suspect that the child has hypertonicity of the upper and lower extremities. In addition to clenched fists, lack of body flexibility, stiffness of the muscles of the arms and legs, the infant has the following symptoms:

regurgitation due to poor appetite;
restless sleep, which is constantly interrupted and accompanied by nervous shudders, sharp shaking of the head;
the baby can cry and arch the body at the same time. At the same time, the limbs and chin are shaking;
when the baby is placed on the surface, instead of stomping, he begins to stand on tiptoe.

If the baby has the above signs of hypertonicity, then you should consult a doctor to determine the final diagnosis. This violation can be corrected and treated, so it is important to remain calm. Nervousness and anxiety of parents is instantly transmitted to the child, which negatively affects the condition of the baby.

How does hand hypertonicity manifest itself?

Muscular hypertonicity of the baby's arms is manifested in increased resistance during passive abduction of the upper limbs from the chest. Strongly clenched fists are a common symptom, a sign of a neurological disorder. Similar state should alert, becoming a reason for seeking advice from a qualified pediatrician.

Hypertonicity of the legs

Hypertonicity in infants is manifested in the limited mobility of the lower extremities. Violation is dangerous for the development of motor functions. The inhibition of development will affect the future gait and physical activity child. With hypertonicity of the legs at 6 months, the use of walkers is contraindicated. Such devices help to increase the state of tension in the muscles of the legs and spine.

Methods for the treatment of hypertension in children under one year old

Prescribe medications and make a complex necessary procedures with muscle hypertonicity in a child aged 3 months and older, only a neurologist is allowed. Self-medication can lead to aggravation of the problem and the development negative consequences. Understand that the sooner you prescribe and start a course of correction of a neurological disorder, the sooner positive results and visible effect of treatment. To a baby With muscle hypertonicity prescribe: children's massage, health gymnastics and therapeutic baths.

With hypertension in small child massage is carried out daily independently, starting from 2 weeks of a baby's life. First of all, you need to consult with a medical officer who will tell you in detail and show you how to massage correctly. On average, 10 sessions will be needed. During the passage of such treatment, the violation should gradually disappear. Relaxing massage includes 3 types of touches: stroking, rubbing, rocking:

To begin with, with the back of your hand, stroke the baby on the surface of the legs, arms and back. Alternate superficial touches with your fingers with light girths of the whole brush.
For circular rubbing of the skin, place the baby on the tummy, gently make dashed movements from the bottom up with your fingers. The same effect should be applied to the arms and legs.
Take the baby by the brush, start shaking it gently. In the process of performing the massage, be sure to hold the baby's hand by the forearm. The procedure should be carried out with each handle and leg.
Take the child a little higher than the wrist, rock rhythmically in different directions.
Soothe, relax the muscles after the massage you need smooth strokes.

Video training in massage technique

It is clearly demonstrated how to conduct a professional relaxing massage session for hypertonicity of the legs and arms in a 4-month-old child in the video below:

Wellness gymnastics

To help the baby relax the muscles a little with hypertonicity, experts recommend additionally using not medical methods treatment and health-improving gymnastics. Special exercises increase the chances of speedy recovery, will help the muscles begin to develop and function normally. The main goal of gymnastics is to stimulate full-fledged motor activity and the development of individual reflexes:

lay the child on its side, slowly stroke it along the back from the buttocks to the neck along the spine. In no case do not press hard on the baby's body. During the exercise, the baby will arch.
Press lightly on the foot under the toes, on its inner surface. The baby will begin to flex his toes and foot in response. Then run your hand along the outer surface of the foot - then the child will straighten it. During gymnastics, it is important for the parent to remain calm so that the baby is not afraid and begins to trust him.

Healing baths

All kinds of water treatments and aromatherapy have a beneficial effect on the baby's nervous system, helping to relax muscles and eliminate hypertonicity. Physical activity during bathing will help get rid of the crumbs from excessive tightness and stiffness. With hypertonicity, it is useful to add decoctions of medicinal herbs to the bath - lavender, motherwort, oregano, eucalyptus.

During water procedures, the child should not be taught to dive. Diving under water with a head for a baby is a serious stress that can provoke an increase in the symptoms of hypertonicity. While bathing, carefully monitor the condition and mood of the crumbs. It is important that water procedures give him pleasure and only pleasant emotions.

Fitball exercises with photo examples

Before you start exercising on a fitball, be sure to consult a pediatrician. On a small fitball without horns and pimples, lay a film on which you put the baby with your tummy. While holding the child, begin to slowly rock him in different directions. When performing this exercise, all muscle groups work to maintain balance. When swaying on the fitball, the baby's arms approach the floor, prompting the activation of the extensor muscles.

Together with your child, pat the ball with your hands and feet. This exercise will amuse the baby, help to slightly ease the tension in the muscles. The photo clearly demonstrates several exercises, the implementation of which will help to significantly alleviate the symptoms of hypertonicity. Your doctor will help you make the most accurate forecast recovery, will give individual recommendations for a specific case.

Almost constant overstrain of the muscles of the whole body - hypertonicity - is a fairly common phenomenon in children in the first year of life. Almost all babies are born with this diagnosis, because during prenatal development they were in the fetal position. This posture keeps all the muscles in tension.

In the first six months, the child's nervous system undergoes adaptation and gradually adapts to new living conditions. In the first month, newborns often clench their fists tightly and bend their legs. This indicates a pronounced hypertonicity. With each week, the baby begins to control the work of his muscles, and by the third month, hypertonicity in most children passes. Increased muscle tension in a child older than six months is a cause for concern and an appeal to a pediatric specialist - a neurologist.

The main symptoms of hypertension

There can be several reasons for the appearance of hypertonicity - these are various complications during childbearing, difficult childbirth, environmental and social factors and much more. Hypertonicity could form in utero with a negative emotional state future mother, at nervous stress and restless state. Sometimes these symptoms may be serious illness nervous system. Do not disregard any signs of hypertonicity.

Signs of severe hypertonicity

The baby sleeps for a short time and wakes up very often.
Lying on the back, the child draws his arms and legs and throws his head back.
The baby resists and cries when trying to breed his legs or arms.
Holding the child in vertical position on the table or the floor, pay attention to how he stands on his legs - with the whole foot or only its front part. Normally, when the whole foot.
While crying, the child's lips and chin tremble, the head throws back, and the body bends.
The baby often spits up after feeding.
With sharp sounds or a sudden appearance of light, the baby shudders and cries.
The child holds the head only with the help of tense neck muscles.

Reflex tests to determine hypertonicity

During attempts to sit down by the hands, the child resists and does not allow the hands to be taken away from the chest.
Walk reflex that is seen after two months of age. Trying to put the baby on its feet, he tries to take a step.
The support reflex is when the child stands on his toes, and not on the entire foot.
Reflexes of symmetry and asymmetry over the age of three months. In the supine position, an attempt to tilt the head to the side chest accompanied by flexion of the arms and extension of the legs. The same reflexes appear when the head is turned to the left or right.
Muscle tone reflex at the age of over three months. The child strains the muscles of the arms and legs while on the stomach, and on the back he relaxes them.

It is only necessary to see a doctor for medical help if these reflexes do not go away by the age of three to six months. The specialist will definitely take into account all individual characteristics your child, heredity, the condition of the mother during pregnancy, the condition of the baby at birth, and only after that will decide on the method of treatment.

Hypertonicity, which persists in a child for longer than a certain time, may indicate the presence of some kind of pathology associated with nervous or cardiovascular system. If not carried out timely treatment, then this may affect the development of the baby:

Wrong posture and gait will form.
There will be a delay in general development(emotions, movement skills, memory and thinking, speech).

With increased muscle tone in the legs, children begin to crawl, sit and walk much later than other babies. Motor activity in such babies is very weak. Devices such as walkers and jumpers will only harm them, as the load on the muscles only increases.

With hypertonicity of the hands, the kids clench their fists until the fingers turn blue and do not allow the handles to be taken away from the chest. In most cases, these are signs of physiological hypertonicity.

Treatment methods for hypertension

Timely contact with pediatric neurologist and the treatment started on time will give its good results already very soon. Medicine offers such ways to deal with hypertonicity:

General massage with a relaxing effect.
Therapeutic gymnastics with special complex exercises.
Electrophoresis sessions.
Swimming lessons.
Heat treatment (using paraffin).
Treatment with drugs.

Drug treatment is not in vain in last place, since it is used only in difficult cases. Most of the time you can do without it. Very often, hypertonicity goes away after a course of massage and water procedures.

Parents of a baby can massage their baby from the third week of his birth, after consulting in detail with a pediatrician or a children's masseur. The optimal massage course is 10 sessions. All movements of the massage therapist's hands should be light, smooth and consist only of stroking, rubbing and rocking.

Stroking the back, legs and arms with the whole palm and only with the fingers (alternating), light point tapping with the fingers.
Light rubbing of the back, then alternately of the upper and lower extremities with careful circular, and then dashed movements (in the direction from bottom to top).
In turn, each arm and leg of the child should be gently shaken, holding the forearm with the other hand or upper part legs. Helps to relax the hands and forearms. You can also lightly shake each finger of the child.
With rhythmic movements, holding the hands slightly above the wrist, carry out light swaying with the whole body, and then separately with the arms and legs.
“Fold” the baby in the fetal position, alternately pulling the legs, arms and head to the chest to the stomach and carry out swaying movements to the sides.
Each massage session should end with pleasant strokes of the entire body of the baby and his limbs.

Children diagnosed with hypertonicity are not recommended to use patting and kneading movements during the massage. But as additional relaxing movements (outside the massage), you can show the baby how to pull the foot up to your face (nose and mouth) and play with your fingers.

You can use the “spring” exercises when the baby in an upright position (you can hold him by the armpits) pushes off with his legs from a hard, flat surface. At the same time, be sure to pay attention to the child's foot on the surface completely, and not just on the fingers.

A good relaxing effect is provided by rocking exercises on a large inflatable ball.

Using herbal baths

Herbal baths are considered an excellent relaxing remedy for tight muscles. Even ordinary warm water soothes and helps to relax, and with herbal infusions, this effect is enhanced. For each bath, only one type of herb is used; you should not use herbal mixtures so as not to provoke an allergy to one of the components. The schedule of herbal baths can be as follows: four days - water procedures with herbal infusion, and on the fifth day - plain water. Children of the first year of life can use pine needles for bathing, lingonberry leaves, sage, motherwort, string and valerian. All these plants have an excellent relaxing effect on muscular system child.

Children's experts recommend parents of babies with hypertonicity to take as much time as possible water procedures. Indeed, for a newborn, water is his natural environment, as in the womb. And in this state, he feels calm and relaxed.

Hypertonicity of the newborn. Why? (video)

Often, parents at a doctor's appointment hear about an increased or decreased tone in a baby. What is it and how dangerous is it?

Let's start with what's on its own tone is not a diagnosis or disease. Tone is a slight constant pretension of a muscle, allowing it to be ready for intentional contraction at any time. The regulation of muscle tone is a very complex neurophysiological process, closely related to congenital and acquired reflexes, the correctness of which depends on many factors. The regulation of tone is carried out at the reflex level with the participation of all parts of the brain: the trunk, subcortical nuclei and cortex.

In a newborn, the general tone of all muscles is evenly increased compared to adults and older children. This gives his body a characteristic appearance: arms and legs are pressed to the body, the head is slightly thrown back, it is not possible to completely separate the limbs. All this is absolutely normal and passes with time.

As the child grows, the tone of his muscles weakens, which gives the baby the opportunity to begin to actively move. He begins to move his arms, legs, take objects, raise his head. It is important that changes in tone occur correctly and simultaneously in all muscles. If, for example, the upper limbs are in high tonus for a long time, it will be more difficult for the child to use them, and he will acquire the appropriate skills later. Prolonged hypertonicity of the lower extremities can cause problems with the development of walking.

Up to about 3-4 months, muscle tone remains high, then it begins to decrease - first in the flexor muscles (arms and legs straighten at the same time), and by 5-6 months all muscles evenly relax, which gives the child the opportunity to make more complex movements - sit down, stand up and walk. By 18 months muscle tone the child becomes comparable to the adult. If the baby lags behind in development from peers, the cause may be a violation of muscle tone.

What are the causes of violation of tone

The vast majority of tone disorders are associated with trauma and hypoxia during childbirth. Most often, the head and cervical spine of the baby are injured, which leads to disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system: the cerebral cortex and subcortical structures. Trauma can occur during rapid and stormy labor, as a result of unskilled actions of obstetricians, the use of the Christeller maneuver (pressure on the abdomen during childbirth is prohibited in most countries, but is periodically used in Russia), after stimulation of labor with oxytocin, the use of vacuum and forceps.

Prolonged oxygen starvation during childbirth also leads to damage to the nervous system and, first of all, to the cerebral cortex. The stronger the injury or the longer the hypoxia was, the more severe the problems in the newborn. The most severe cases are manifestations of cerebral palsy - cerebral palsy, in which the child is practically deprived of the opportunity to develop normally.

How can a mother suspect violations of tone

hypertonicity in newborns up to a month is physiological, that is, normal. Violation can be suspected by excessive tightness and stiffness of the baby, not appropriate for age. If the tone is increased in the upper limbs, the baby does not reach for the toy, does not unbend the arms, his fists are tightly clenched most of the time, often in the form of a “fig”. Hypertonicity of the lower extremities can be suspected if the child's hips cannot be spread apart so that the angle between them is 90 degrees.

low tone manifested by lethargy, weak movements of the arms or legs, drooping limbs (frog posture), sluggish movements and late development of age-related skills. If the tone is disturbed on one side, it is easy to notice by the asymmetry that occurs on the limbs of one and the other side, as well as by the asymmetry of the folds. If you suspect a violation of tone in your baby, then first of all contact your pediatrician.

How does the doctor evaluate the tone

It can determine with high accuracy whether your baby's tone is impaired or not. In doubtful cases, he will refer you to a pediatric neurologist. To check, the doctor will examine the baby externally, check his posture on his back and stomach, how he holds his head and moves his arms and legs. Then the doctor will check the baby's reflexes - they usually increase simultaneously with the tone. Reflexes such as crawling, grasping, sucking are present in young children and disappear by the age of 3 months. If they persist for too long, it may indicate a problem in the nervous system.
Next, the doctor will feel the baby's limbs with his hands, determining how tense the muscles are. He will try to bend and unbend the child's legs and arms, and also check the symmetry of these movements.

Norm – muscle tone and reflexes correspond to age, both sides are developed symmetrically.
hypertonicity - increased muscle tone, the child is constrained, moves with difficulty.
Hypotension – low tone, muscles are relaxed, cannot contract with the right force, the child is lethargic.
Muscular dystonia - some muscles are in hypertonicity, others are in hypotonicity. The child takes unnatural postures, movements are also difficult.

What are dangerous violations of tone

At the heart of any violation of tone is a problem in the nervous system. Tonus is just one of its manifestations, the first and most obvious thing that can be seen in a baby, since examination of vision, hearing and other more adult functions is not available to him. Problems with tone are always the result of a violation of the basic reflexes that regulate body movements. This means that along with the tone, coordination will be impaired in such children, age skills will develop worse, they will lag behind their peers in development.

Later, due to a violation of tonic reflexes, deviations occur in the musculoskeletal system: scoliosis, flat feet, clubfoot, etc. The severity of developmental delay and other disorders depends on the degree of brain damage. This is not always proportional to the severity of hypertonicity, which is why the child must be shown to a pediatric neurologist.

How to treat violations of tone in a child

In most cases, tone disorders respond well to treatment. The earlier the problem is identified, the better it is possible to cope with it, therefore it is very important to undergo scheduled examinations by a pediatrician and a neurologist on time. To exclude a serious problem, the doctor may prescribe a study of the brain using neurosonography - for a detailed examination of its structures.

Treatment for violations of tone should be prescribed by a doctor and be agreed with several specialists: a pediatrician, a neurologist, an orthopedist. Lack of treatment will not lead to anything good, the child will not “outgrow” this problem. If the violation of tone is not treated, it will lead to a developmental delay, problems with the musculoskeletal system.

Your doctor may prescribe a variety of ways of treatment . Here are some of them:
Massage is very common and often effective method improve the condition of the baby with violations of tone. It is suitable for both hyper and hypotension, but is performed according to different methods. With hypertonicity, a relaxing massage is prescribed, with hypotonicity - tonic. It is better if the massage is performed by a specialist, but the mother herself can learn hygienic massage. Performing a light massage daily will be very useful addition to a course with a specialist.
Aqua gymnastics - useful for any violations of tone. warm water relaxes muscles, cool - stimulates. The child learns to coordinate, control his body, all muscles participate in the process.
Physiotherapy - it refers to the effect of heat ( paraffin applications), electrophoresis, magnets.
Medications- become necessary if the muscle spasm is very strong, and it cannot be removed in other ways.
Osteopathy is extremely effective method work with children after birth trauma including manifestations of hypertension. Allows you to bring in correct position bones of the skull and cervical region of the newborn, displaced during childbirth. As a result, the shape of the skull normalizes, the mechanical causes of brain dysfunctions are eliminated, and pathological reflexes disappear. Osteopathy has a mild effect, can be used in children from birth, does not require long courses.

Many parents do not understand the reasons why their babies often spit up, act up, cry and scream a lot and sleep poorly. However, having presented these complaints and received a referral to a neurologist, they find out that the baby has muscle hypertonicity. But it also happens that young parents believe that all these phenomena are normal and do not go to the doctor because they do not know what exactly to pay attention to.

Signs of hypertension in the chest

To determine if the baby has hypertonicity, you can carefully observe it for some time and carry out simple manipulations. One of the signs of this deviation is nervousness, while anxiety and excitement are often accompanied by crying and trembling of the chin. Other symptoms of hypertension in infants are:

Regular strong regurgitation during and after feeding.
When crying, the baby arches all the bodies, and throws his head back.
Sleep in such children becomes short and restless, they wake up from any extraneous sound.
During sleep, the child often takes the following position: arms and legs are brought together, the head is thrown back. At this point, you can try to gently push the limbs apart, with hypertonicity, there is noticeable resistance, and if you continue to try, it will increase even more, and the child will cry.
When evoking the stepping reflex (for this, the baby is taken under the arms, holding, put on the legs and tilted forward slightly), the baby must put the foot on the table completely, that is, the entire surface. In the case when he touches the table only with socks, we can talk about hypertonicity.

Many of these signs of hypertonicity are also present in healthy babies during the first half of their lives. A consultation with a neurologist will help to determine exactly if there are deviations and determine measures to correct them.

Causes of hypertension in infants

There are several possible causes the occurrence of hypertension in infants:

Pathological disorders of the normal functioning of the nervous system. Such deviations can be caused by many factors:

illness of a woman during pregnancy, accompanied by chronic intoxication;
constant tone of the uterus during pregnancy;
hypoxia of the brain prenatal period or in childbirth;
the waiting time for the child coincided with the treatment of herpes, chlamydia, toxoplasmosis and other acute infections;
severe pregnancy, constant threat of miscarriage;
severe toxicosis in the first or last trimester;
chronic pathologies of the mother;
smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy, poisonous fetus;
overly prolonged labor or too rapid (in such cases, there is often insufficient disclosure of the birth canal, entanglement, prolonged anhydrous period and other violations)
incorrect incision during childbirth through C-section. Quite often, in order to reduce the seam and subsequent scar, doctors make a so-called "cosmetic" incision. In this case, the child's head is smaller than the opening, due to which there may be damage to the cervical spine.

Incompatibility of Rh factors or blood types, or hemolytic disease child.

Treatment of hypertension mainly consists in massage. Its main purpose is to relieve increased tension in the muscles and relax them. In this case, the first course, which includes ten sessions, it is desirable to take a good specialist. Before agreeing to a massage in a clinic, you should learn better about the master working there, look for reviews and opinions about him. Of course, today the cost of holding baby massage quite high, but the result will be noticeable if you choose a competent specialist. He will also be able to give recommendations on how to independently conduct a massage in the future.

If the baby has hypertonicity of the legs, then usually doctors, along with a course of massage, prescribe the “wax boots” procedure. Sometimes these two procedures are combined, that is, the baby's legs are wrapped in heated wax, and at this time the master massages the upper half of the body.

In most cases, one course of such procedures is not enough. However, their effectiveness is quite high, so you should ask your doctor for another referral after a while.

Massage for hypertension in the baby

The diagnosis of "hypertonicity" in infants, most often, is made at the age of one month. This deviation can lead in the future to limiting the normal motor activity of the child, as well as to his wrong development. To eliminate this violation, apply various methods physiotherapy and obligatory course of massage and therapeutic gymnastics. In the most severe cases, medical treatment is indicated.

Carrying out therapeutic exercises and massage for infants with hypertonicity

During the massage, the child is in a position: lying on his back, his legs are extended towards the massage therapist.

Foot massage

The session starts with the left leg. The master takes her left hand by the ankle joint, placing it between the middle and forefinger.

At this time, a massage is carried out with the right hand, stroking movements moving from the foot to the lower leg, and then to the side and front of the thigh and inguinal zone. Repeat such stroking about 7-10 times.
After that, they gradually move on to rubbing the same zone. It is carried out with the help of fingertips with straight and spiral movements, moving alternately from top to bottom and from bottom to top.
Next, the same surface is gently kneaded-pressed with fingers.
Spend a light stroking of the foot, while moving from the toes to the heel. With a finger, gently press under the baby's middle finger and draw along the outer arch of the foot. When carrying out such an exercise, the straightening of the child's toes is usually noted, it is repeated 5-7 times.
With the thumb of the hand, they rub the child's foot, making movements resembling a figure eight.
Then knead the foot, pressing on it with the pad of the thumb.
With the index and middle fingers, they begin to stroke the area from the fingers to the ankle joint.
Rubbing this area various types movements: spiral, rectilinear, planing and others.

After carrying out such exercises, the child's leg is taken right hand In the way that thumb was under the baby's fingers, and the other fingers lay on back side feet. The left hand is placed on the child's knee and fixed. Next, flexion-extension of the leg is carried out so that the hip and knee joints are involved. The exercise should be repeated about 5 times.

In the same way, massage is carried out on the right leg of the baby.

Having done all the exercises, the baby's legs are taken by the knees and bent at the hip and knee joints, lightly pressing the legs on the child's stomach. They wrap their hands around their legs by the shins and, in turn, lightly tap the table with the foot of each of them. Next, the knees of the legs are spread apart, while the feet should remain compressed together. In this position, lightly rub one foot against the other.

Back and buttocks massage

Often, by this moment of the massage, the baby is already tired and begins to act up. It is turned over on the tummy and the back is massaged as follows:

The skin is rubbed and kneaded with light, gentle movements, and then the skin is stroked, moving from top to bottom.
Also rub and stroke the back of the thighs and buttocks. At the same time, the gluteal muscles slightly pinch and press on them.

During the massage, all the techniques should be alternated with stroking.

Chest and abdomen

At the next stage, the child is again placed on his back and the abdomen is stroked. In this case, you need to move in a clockwise direction. Then they stroke the chest, moving from the sternum to the armpits, you can tap your finger on the sternum a little.

Hand massage

After that, they move on to massaging the baby's hands. First, kneading, rubbing and stroking the outer part of the handle is carried out. To do this, embrace left hand the baby in such a way that the thumb of the left hand of the one who conducts the massage is clamped in the fist of the baby. After that, strokes are carried out with the free right hand, moving from top to bottom, and rubbing in any direction. The external muscles of the arms with hypertonicity in infants are weakened, stretched and need to be strengthened. For this, vibration movements and pressure are used. The muscles of the inner part of the arms, or flexors, on the contrary, have an increased tone and require relaxation. Therefore, kneading should be carried out on this part with light circular rubbing movements and stroking from top to bottom.

The palms and the back of the hand are massaged with light movements, while carefully straightening the baby's fingers.

In the same way, massage the second hand of the child.

Next, move on to the exercises on the handles. When they are carried out, the baby is given thumbs(he reflexively grabs them) hold the brushes with other fingers. With hypertonicity in infants, the following exercises are performed:

The arms are spread out to the sides and crossed on the chest.
Raise your hands up together and alternately.
Spend circular rotation of the arms relative to the shoulder joint back and forth.
Slight shaking of the handles.

All exercises are repeated about 5-7 times.

The total duration of the massage for hypertonicity in infants is about half an hour. Parents can massage the baby's arms and legs themselves by doing the exercises and techniques described above. Such a massage should be about 10 minutes, it is worth repeating it several times a day.

The sooner you start taking measures to eliminate hypertonicity in infants, the more effective these measures will be.

Hypertonicity of the legs in the baby

You can determine the neurological state of the baby by simply observing how the child moves, his posture when he is resting. The muscle tone of the baby is one of important indicators work of the muscular and nervous system. Active muscle tone affects the child's posture, and passive determines mobility. separate parts body and movement resistance. With a normal tone in the baby, the limbs, torso and head occupy the correct position. You can evaluate this on weight, holding the baby in a position where the face is turned down. The head and torso should remain in one line, and the legs and arms should be slightly bent.

In the first weeks of life, the fetal position is considered normal for a child. It is characterized by arms bent and pressed to the body, the fists are compressed and are at chest level, the legs are bent at the knees and slightly apart, the feet are also bent. The child's head may be slightly thrown back, this is due to the predominance of the extensors at this stage of development. It is quite difficult to take the child's leg aside, since the adductor muscles of the thighs dominate.

honors normal rise tone is symmetry, such a tone can be maintained for up to three to four months, until the time of the onset of independent movements. Then, until the baby reaches the age of six months, the tone of the flexor muscles gradually decreases, and the extensor muscles also gradually increase. Thus, by six months the tone of these muscle groups should even out.

There is no single concept of what physiologically increased muscle tone in newborns is. However, it is worth distinguishing it from pathological hypertonicity in infants, the latter is associated with impaired functioning of the nervous system. To determine it, it is worth breeding the limbs. With repeated breeding (if the baby's tone is normal), there is practically no resistance. Of course, only a specialist can accurately determine the presence of hypertonicity in an infant.

Breeding the child’s legs by about 900 is considered the norm, that is, each of the limbs diverges by about 450. With a larger discrepancy, we can talk about insufficient tone, and if there is very strong resistance when trying to breed the child’s legs, then this is a sign of hypertonicity. In infants, other symptoms of this condition can be tucked toes, reliance on toes, and in older children, a kind of “skier’s gait”, in which the child leans more on his fingers.

Stiffness of the limbs may be a manifestation of the pathology of the musculoskeletal system or disorders of a neurogenic nature. The same condition is often accompanied by cerebral palsy, in most cases this disease affects the brain, somewhat less often - the spinal cord. Such conditions are characterized by excessive movements, hypertension from the first days of the baby's life, muscle tone, markedly superior to normal, pronounced stiffness.

Hypertonicity in infants (video)

The 8-minute video clearly shows how to massage babies with hypertonicity. Medical professional demonstrates full course massage for hypertonicity on the doll.

Only a neurologist can diagnose hypertension in infants. But parents should be extremely attentive to the condition of the baby, because they see him in different situations, it is easier for them to notice deviations in behavior. Therefore, you need to know how to identify such a pathology and how to deal with it.

Reasons for the appearance

Hypertonicity is observed in most newborns. And this is not surprising: after all, the baby grows and develops in mother's belly for many months while in the fetal position. His head is pressed to his chest, legs and arms are bent. Muscles get used to this position and strive to maintain it after the birth of the child. Such hypertonicity is physiological, and it is absolutely not dangerous. With the maturation of the nervous system, the muscles relax and the problem goes away on its own. This usually happens by 3 months, maximum - by six months.

But there are cases when hypertonicity in infants is a violation of the body and requires treatment. The causes of the disease can be different:

colds and infectious diseases at mother;
strong constant tone of the uterus during pregnancy;
hypoxia;
toxicosis in the first or last months;
rapid or too long childbirth;
cord entanglement;
bad habits of a pregnant woman, such as smoking and drinking;
hemolytic disease of the fetus, which occurs as a result of incompatibility of Rh factors or blood groups in mother and baby.

Consequences of hypertonicity

Whatever the reason, do not think that hypertonicity is harmless and this problem can be ignored, unless we are talking about physiological phenomenon. If the child is 3 months old, and his fists are still clenched, and other symptoms are present, then the magazine website recommends contacting a specialist. Otherwise, there is a high probability of facing dangerous consequences:

impaired coordination of movements;
difficulties in activities related to the use of fine motor skills;
ugly posture;
curvature of the spine;
speech problems;
the baby will master motor skills much later than peers;
with increased tone in the legs, the child will form an unnatural gait.

In addition, hypertension may be one of the signs of a more serious disease, such as increased intracranial pressure and even cerebral palsy. Therefore, parents should know what to look for so as not to miss this problem. The sooner you start treatment, the more effective it will be.

Signs of hypertonicity

It is usually not difficult to notice hypertonicity. The main thing is not to ignore the symptoms:

sleep disturbances - the baby sleeps little, often wakes up, cries in a dream;
when he lies, he presses his arms and legs, and throws his head back;
when crying, the baby's chin trembles;
the child reacts painfully to external stimuli, such as loud sounds or bright lights;
he often burps;
the baby has a poor appetite;
if you try to spread the arms or legs of the child, then he will begin to worry and cry. When you try again, the resistance of the muscles will become even more pronounced.

To confirm or deny the presence of a problem, you need to conduct reflex tests. They are usually done by a doctor during the examination. But fulfill simple exercises under the power of parents. Only all movements should be soft and careful so as not to injure the child.

Reflexes are checked as follows.

You can try to sit down the baby, holding the handles. If at the same time it is problematic to take them away from the chest, then this is an alarming sign.
Step reflex. A newborn is characterized by such a feature: if, holding it under the armpits, put it vertically on a support, then it will begin to walk. But after 2 months this reflex should disappear.
Support reflex. If the child is put on a support, then he should not stand on tiptoe, but on the whole foot.
Asymmetric and symmetrical reflections. After 3 months they should not be. If you begin to press the head of the crumbs to the chest, then its legs will tend to accelerate, and the arms, on the contrary, will bend.
The tonic reflex should also disappear after 3 months. It manifests itself as follows: if the newborn is placed on its back, then it straightens its arms and legs, and bends them on the tummy.

Even if parents suspected hypertonicity, only a specialist can make a diagnosis.

Development by age

There are developmental standards by which you can assess the health of the crumbs. Of course, each child develops at an individual pace, but a serious lag behind peers most likely means there is some kind of problem.

1 month. Hypertonicity month old baby - normal phenomenon. He clenched his fists, lying on his back, throwing his head back a little. If you try to spread the legs, you will feel resistance, the folds on them should be symmetrical. The tone of the flexor muscles is much stronger than that of the extensor muscles.
By 3 months, hypertonicity disappears. There is no need to panic if some signs still persist: the baby may need a little more time. By this age, the child should hold his head well, grab the toy with an open palm.
6 months. By six months, the child is almost completely adapted to living conditions that differ from intrauterine. Hypertonicity by this point should be completely gone. The baby begins to confidently control his movements. It is normal if he is already turning over, sitting, trying to crawl.
9 months. At this age, hypertonicity can still be cured without serious medications, only with baths and massage. Therefore, if the baby is weak physical activity, then it must be shown to the doctor. At this age, it is normal for children to sit, crawl, stand at the support, walk along it.
Year. If hypertonicity is still present, then therapeutic baths, massage and other procedures continue. In cases where it persists even by 1.5 years, additional examinations may be necessary.
3 years. Sometimes hypertension does not go away by this age. The kid walks on tiptoe, he has a broken fine motor skills. But even now, continuing the course of treatment can correct the situation.
5-6 years. In 6% of children, hypertonicity persists until school age. Such babies walk on tiptoe, it is difficult for them to hold a pen, they also learn worse educational material. In some cases, the child even receives a disability and attends a specialized school.

Well, if increased tone is detected in early age, up to a year. During this period, there is an active development of the brain and body, therefore various problems well amenable to correction. Hypertonicity may not appear in all muscles. Often there is muscle tone only in the legs or arms. Either way, treatment is needed.

Treatment of hypertension

Depending on the situation, the age of the child and related problems, different means are used for treatment:

massage;
electrophoresis;
physiotherapy;
paraffin;
swimming;
relaxing baths;
medicines.

Often the doctor prescribes several procedures at the same time. For example, massage is combined with electrophoresis or paraffin boots, as well as with coniferous baths in the evenings. Medical preparations are not always needed. They are usually discharged if there is no noticeable improvement after other procedures. These can be B vitamins, drugs that help remove fluid, including from the head, as well as nootropic substances. It is important to find a doctor whom parents can trust, following all his recommendations.

How to perform massage with hypertension

Massage for hypertension is the main treatment. If the problem is not caused by a serious neurological pathology, then massage is enough to relax the muscles. Starting from the age of two weeks, mom and dad can perform simple exercises with the baby to prevent muscle tone.

When problems are identified, a special massage is needed, and it is best to have it performed by a specialist. An experienced massage therapist knows how to control the pressing force, taking into account the characteristics of each small patient. For the effect to be noticeable, you need to go through a whole course of massage, usually 10 sessions. You may need several of these courses. They begin to carry out no earlier than 3 months.

Water helps to relax muscles and healing herbs reinforce this action. To cope with hypertonicity, the doctor may prescribe a course of coniferous baths, as well as with valerian, sage, motherwort and other plants.

For proper development babies are very important warm and calm atmosphere. Sometimes it happens that the baby does not perceive an outside masseur at all, cries and bends. From such a procedure, there will be practically no result. In such cases, parents can do the massage themselves. It is advisable to contact a specialist who will help you remember the basic movements. It is important to do them correctly so as not to worsen the situation.

If the baby has increased muscle tone, then the following movements are applied: rubbing, stroking, swaying ..

The simplest massage that any parent can master looks like this.

With the back of your hand, stroke the arms, legs, back of the baby.
Lay the baby on the stomach in a circular motion stroke the back, heading from the bottom up. Then turn the baby on his back and rub the arms and legs in the same way.
Take the child by the hand with one hand, gently hold the forearm with the other. Shake lightly. Repeat for the other handle and then for the legs.
Hold the handles slightly above the wrist, gently shake them. Repeat for the legs, holding the shins.
Gently stroke the baby's limbs.

Hand and foot massage

It is very important to remove the tone of the legs in a child. This will help form the correct gait. The kid will stop leaning on tiptoe, will lean on the entire foot.

Massage should be done like this.

The child should lie on the back, legs towards the massage therapist. The specialist holds the leg of the crumbs with his left hand, and with his right hand makes light massage movements, moving from the lower leg to the thigh.
Then the master rubs the same area, moving in a straight line and in a spiral.
After that, they move on to stroking the foot. It should be directed from the fingers to the heel. Then you need to lightly press on the point under the child’s middle finger and run your hand along the outer arch of the leg. In this case, you can see how the fingers straighten.
With the thumb they rub each foot of the baby, as if drawing eights on it.
The index and middle fingers easily stroke the leg from the toes to the ankle.
Rub the same area with gentle movements.

After performing all these exercises, the massage therapist wraps his fingers around the child's foot, holding the knee with his other hand and begins to bend and unbend the leg, using the knee and hip joints. Next, grab your shins with your hands and tap your feet on the table. Then slightly spread your knees to the sides, keeping your feet together.

When massaging the handles, you need to know that the external muscles with hypertonicity in newborns are weak, they need to be strengthened. To do this, they are pressed and vibratory movements are performed. The flexor muscles located on inside hands, on the contrary, are tense. To relax them, they perform stroking and rubbing. You also need to massage the palms of the baby with light movements, carefully straightening the fingers.

simultaneously and in turn they need to be raised and lowered;
hands are spread several times to the sides and crossed on the chest;
make circular movements;
shake easily.

The movements of the parents must be confident and at the same time soft. Even if the services of a massage therapist are used, in between courses therapeutic massage mom and dad have to do the procedure on their own. Only regular exercise, and if necessary, taking medication will help to cope with the problem.

Physiological hypertonicity in newborns is not dangerous, it will pass as the child grows up. But the symptoms cannot be ignored, especially if they do not disappear after 3 months. It is possible that this pathological condition that requires treatment. If you miss the moment, then it will not be easy to correct the situation, and the consequences increased tone muscles are very serious.