Madison had a great visit with Joe today. She practiced letting go of the sattle to lift her arms up, point at things and touch her helmet and different parts of the sattle. She now understands which arm is her right and which one is her left. Now that she knows the difference, they will include it in their instruction for leaning a certain way and turning.
Madison had her first massage session today with Shannon (thanks for recommending Jennifer!) and Madison really enjoyed it. Shannon did an assessment to see how she can best help Madison. She suggested she would treat the stiffest muscles depending on the week and focuses on Madison’s legs. She observed that Madison’s joints crack, her knees are swollen and her right leg has much higher tone then her left. She also incorporated craniosacral therapy in her massage. Here is some info on how it relates to cerebral palsy:
“CST is a treatment involving the brain and spinal cord using massage and other minor non-invasive techniques. Osteopath William Sutherland, who studied the body’s health in relation to the bones of the skull and relation of the spinal cord, invented the technique.
There are certain normal rhythmic motions felt in the body that craniosacral therapy relies on developing. The therapy is based on spinal cord fluid that encases the brain and spinal cord. The fluid moves in a certain rhythmic fashion creating a balance between the brain and the spinal cord. This rhythm is felt for on the bones in craniosacral therapy for cerebral palsy. Abnormalities can be felt in the actual bone by the therapist. According to the therapy, these abnormalities can cause the spinal cord fluid to stop flowing correctly.
Craniosacral therapy for cerebral palsy detects these restrictions and through its unique therapeutic massaging, restarts and develops the rhythms. A trained craniosacral therapist can detect abnormalities. By applying pressures to the body these rhythms can be restored to their original intents. The therapy is very minimally invasive, using less pressure than a regular massage.
Craniosacral therapy for cerebral palsy is used to help the body of the CP patient develop its own muscle and nervous systems in order to help immunize the body against further disease. CST can contain one or some of the following components: Sutural approach, meningeal approach, and reflex approach.
The therapy is seen as an alternative to other more intrusive and potentially damaging treatments of cerebral palsy. Craniosacral therapy can provide a much needed relief to damaging effects of cerebral palsy on the nervous and muscular systems.”
Madi Moves 