Muscle tone 💪 is the amount of tension or resistance to movement in our muscles. This helps us hold our bodies upright while sitting or standing and contributes to our ability to control the speed and amount of movement 🚶️ we can achieve. When muscles are at their healthiest, they are never fully relaxed. Children develop muscle tone as they grow and develop 👶.
In rare cases children can experience low muscle tone development called hypotonia. In this blog post, we will share more about hypotonia, its cause and the treatments available 🙌.
What Is Hypotonia?
Low muscle tone is more of a symptom than a condition on its own. It can be associated with conditions affecting the brain and spinal cord injury, serious infections, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.
According to the NHS, it is sometimes possible to identify hypotonia in new-born babies. However, it may become more noticeable when a child is six months old.
What Are The Symptoms To Look Out For?
Children who have hypotonia are typically described as ‘floppy’. They tend to take longer to reach developmental milestones such as sitting up, crawling, walking, talking, and feeding themselves. Here are the most common symptoms of low muscle tone in children:
- Little or no control of their neck muscles. The child’s head will tend to ‘flop’ as a result.
- Feeling limp when they are held.
- Not being able to put weight on their leg or shoulder muscles.
- Their arms and legs hang straight down their sides instead of bending at the elbows, hips, and knees.
- Finding it difficult to suck or swallow.
- A weak sounding cry in infants and a quiet voice in children.
- Speech difficulties.
- Increased susceptibility to injuries.
How Can It Be Treated?
Children who have hypotonia are usually referred to a specialist healthcare professional 🩺 and asked a lot of questions about family history, pregnancy 🤰 and delivery and any issues there have been since birth.
The specialist will likely also do some tests, including blood work 🩸, a CT scan, or an MRI scan. The cause of low muscle tone that will determine the treatment that is needed. But the good news is that hypotonia can improve over time, particularly in premature babies 🙌.
Treatment options include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy to help improve functions such as mobility and speech. Chiropractic care can be useful to support joint movement and nerve function.
What Simple Exercises Can Be Used?
There are some simple warm-up exercises that can be done daily to help young children improve their endurance by activating their most important muscles. These exercises will not lead to a permanent change in a child’s hypotonia, but they will help train your child to do everyday activities with a stable posture. Try as much as possible to make the below activities fun and exciting:
- Bouncing on a space hopper
- Running on the spot, stomping, star jumps and skipping
- Crab crawling, bear walks and bunny hops
- Tug of war
- Ball games
- Gentle arm wrestles
The best way to spot hypotonia in children is to ensure that they go for regular check-ups with their doctor and the underlying cause is identified and treated. Be sure to mention all your concerns about their progress and reaching developmental milestones. If you notice a sudden onset of any of the symptoms mentioned above, it is important to see a doctor 🏥 right away.
Contact us to chat more about hypotonia and how we can support you 😊.
