• Moss D
• McKay T

• Cerebral Palsy
• Child
• Diversified Technique
• Male
• Mobility Limitation
• Motor Activity
• Muscle Spasticity
• Vertebral Subluxation Complex

Objective: This case study describes the chiropractic treatment of a 2 year old male child with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy who experienced improvement in his motor function and mobility following care.

Clinical Features: The patient’s mother brought him to receive chiropractic treatment in order to improve his physical and mental health.  The patient had been receiving occupational and physical therapy for two years with little improvement, and the next step according to their doctors would be to introduce potential surgical options.  At the time treatment began, the patient had never been able to crawl or walk on his own.  His limited movement was achieved by pulling himself along by his arms.

Intervention and Outcomes: The chiropractic care consisted of a diversified full spine technique with the goal of detecting and reducing vertebral subluxations.  After 2 visits, the patient’s mother reported that for the first time, her son had begun to pull himself up to his hands and knees and crawl on his own.  He is still under chiropractic care and is still showing increased mobility.

Conclusions: Cerebral palsy is a very common and debilitating childhood condition that can negatively affect the patient and their family in a number of ways.  This case study joins the already existing research in helping to show a beneficial link between chiropractic treatment and improved symptomatology in cerebral palsy patients.  However, larger studies need to be performed to determine the extent of this beneficial relationship.

Author Keywords: Chiropractic, Cerebral Palsy, Vertebral Subluxation, Diversified Technique, Mobility, Spastic, Motor Function

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription.