Cerebral Palsy Symptoms: Signs to look for

If your child exhibits cerebral palsy symptoms and medical or doctor malpractice was the reason for your child’s condition, then you shouldn’t be responsible for the astronomical cost of lifelong care.

Cerebral palsy is diagnosed in approximately 8,000 children each year. The cost of caring for children who suffer from cerebral palsy can be financially catastrophic.

See a cerebral palsy attorney

A cerebral palsy lawyer will determine whether you a strong case that doctor malpractice was the cause. Cerebral palsy lawyers will be able to recognize if there may be a claim.

In most cases, cerebral palsy symptoms are easy to recognize. Here are the most common cerebral palsy symptoms:

Speech

Just as patients have problems with muscle control in their arms and legs, they also have difficulties controlling their tongue, mouth, lips, jaw, and breath flow. As a result, patients exhibiting this type of cerebral palsy symptom might have problems with speech. The most common speech problem is called dysarthria. This condition causes speech to be slow and slurred and, in some cases, hypernasal (too much air flow through the nose) or hyponasal (not enough air flow through the nose).

Drooling

Fortunately, there are a number of treatments available to combat the problem of drooling:

• Surgery
  
• Anticholinergics, or drugs that reduce saliva flow
  
• Biofeedback that allows patients to know when they are drooling.

Eating

This cerebral palsy symptom involves the muscle groups in the face and jaw, which can lead to difficulty eating. Patients with this type of cerebral palsy symptom will often – especially in severe cases – end up becoming malnourished. This always leads to poor growth and development.

Incontinence

This cerebral palsy symptom is more commonly known as poor bladder control. This can take a number of forms, including Enuresis, or bed wetting, urination during physical activity, or a slow leak from the bladder.