Paraparesis of the lower extremities in children and adults: causes, treatment

Paraparesis is the paralyzed state of the limbs. This can happen with both arms and legs. You should know that paraparesis of the lower extremities is associated with impaired function of the spinal cord. In some cases, the brain is affected.

What are the causes of this ailment?

Each disease or the occurrence of some kind of dysfunction has its own reasons. In order for the treatment process to become effective, it is necessary to determine what caused paraparesis of the lower extremities. When it comes to a disease such as paraparesis, the main cause of its occurrence is myelopathy. Under this ailment is understood a violation in the work of the spinal cord. As a rule, the area of ​​the spine in the cervical region lends itself to damage. In turn, myelopathy occurs due to the pathologies listed below. Causes of paraparesis of the lower extremities:

1. Osteochondrosis.
2. Spondylosis
3. The presence of an inflammatory process.

Another cause of paraparesis is injury. It can affect part of the spinal cord. Also, the affected area can capture the spinal cord to such an extent that it will lead to its rupture. In addition, the injured part of the body can press on the spinal cord with vertebrae. This situation can also lead to the fact that the limbs of a person will be partially paralyzed.

Other causes of the disease

The tumor is also often found as a cause of paralysis of the limbs. The fact is that this formation puts pressure on the spinal cord of a person. As a result, a violation of such a process as innervation begins. In this case, paraparesis of the lower extremities in adults.

But the disease is not always a mandatory manifestation of this type of complication. If it does appear, then there are two options. Namely, paralysis of the limbs can be gradual, but can be sharp.

Symptoms

How is paraparesis of the lower extremities manifested, the treatment of which we will consider below? This disease has its own symptoms. These include the following symptoms:

1. The skin of the legs is no longer sensitive.
2. Pain in the lower extremities appears. Also, a person notices that the legs begin to swell.
3. The level of the knee reflex becomes low .
4. The muscles become weakened.
5. There are problems with bending or bending the leg in the leg region.
6. It becomes impossible to bend or straighten the hip.
7. A man cannot step on his heel.
8. The gait becomes uncertain and shaky.

The peculiarity of the above symptoms is that they occur quite quickly. However, they remain quite a long time.

If paraparesis of the lower extremities becomes severe, then pelvic dysfunction is added. In addition, the patient's muscles weaken. Then he has apathy for everything around him. You can observe that a person often changes his mood. As a rule, it all becomes bad at all. Added to this is loss of appetite and indigestion. Also, the patient's body temperature rises. The human immune system malfunctions. Therefore, to all of the above, the presence of infection in the body is added.

Child's problem

If we talk about children, then they have this disease can occur as a result of trauma received during childbirth. It happens that the diagnosis is made incorrectly and in fact such a disease does not exist in the child's body. As they grow older, this diagnosis is either confirmed or disproved. The doctor who identifies the problem is qualified as a neurologist.

Stages of the disease

There are several stages of this disease.

1. Minor pathology.
2. Moderate.
3. Severe pathology.
4. Pronounced pathology.

If a person has been diagnosed with paraparesis of the lower extremities (all patients are interested in treatment), then he will lose any signs of sensitivity in his legs. External influences such as bruises or burns will also not cause any sensations in a person with such a diagnosis. People with this diagnosis need special attention, care and care from loved ones. They also need to be under the supervision of doctors who will take into account any changes in the condition. As a rule, the aforementioned symptoms of the disease appear if a person has a damaged part of the thoracic spine.

Flaccid paraparesis of the lower extremities may be the result of damage to the human thoracic and lumbar spine.

How is the diagnosis made?

It is well known that the effectiveness of treatment depends on how accurately defined the disease. Therefore, when a person visits a medical institution for diagnosis, he is invited to undergo the following types of examinations:

1. Magnetic resonance imaging. You should know that this type of examination is usually carried out for a fee. It is not cheap, but if there is money, then you should not refuse it, since MRI gives the most accurate results of the state of the human body. Through this study, you can identify pathological deviations from the norm and understand the area of ​​distribution of ailments.
2. Myelography
3. Examination of cerebrospinal fluid.

A blood test is also prescribed. Urine is still needed as a material for examination. Blood is also taken for HIV. In addition, it is determined whether there is a disease in the body such as syphilis. Also, for diagnosis, it is necessary to identify how much B12 is present in the patient's body. An important indicator is the level of folic acid.

Paraparesis of the lower extremities in adults. Massage and special gymnastics treatment

Patients should be aware that paraparesis may appear due to several reasons. The treatment regimen will be selected individually, depending on what was the primary cause of the disease. The doctor should give the patient comprehensive information about his condition, talk about what caused the disease in his body, and determine the treatment regimen.

You also need to understand that only an integrated approach to healing your body will help make therapy effective. First of all, a special massage is prescribed to the patient. Its action is aimed at providing a person with the movement of nerve impulses through his body. Also, massage should provide tissue nutrition. This will favorably affect the healing process of the body. In addition to massage, the patient should do gymnastics. Based on the diagnosis, it can be concluded that the patient himself will not be able to perform the exercises. Therefore, the gymnastic complex is passive. The patient will be offered a course of exercises that will help him perform a physiotherapist. The specialist’s task is to move the patient’s limbs in accordance with a specially designed complex. Do not overdo it with massage and physical activity. You must understand that a person is sick.

Therefore, all loads should be performed in accordance with the dosage determined by the attending physician. Also, with any discomfort, you must inform the doctor. Perhaps an adjustment will be made to the training process and massage.

Spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities. Treatment

Usually, two tasks are set for the patient and the doctor at once. The first is that it is necessary to cure the cause of the onset of the disease. And the second task is aimed at treating directly paralyzed limbs. If therapy is carried out in two directions at once, then the treatment will be effective. Then the patient can count on a positive result.

In the case when the prescribed course of treatment does not bring the desired results, the person will be asked to conduct surgery in his body. Then, through surgery, try to return it to normal life. Do not forget that a surgical operation always carries the risk of any complications both at the time of its conduct and after. But there are cases when surgical intervention is the only chance that can restore a person’s legs sensitivity. A surgical treatment can remove the cause of a person’s legs becoming paralyzed. After the operation is done, the patient will be prescribed a recovery course. It includes physiotherapy exercises. As a result, a person can fully recover and return to a normal lifestyle.

Spastic paraparesis in children

A disease such as paraparesis can be acquired or congenital. Spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities in children is extremely rare. More often the child is diagnosed with paralysis of the upper limb. This is due to damage to the plexus of the shoulder during childbirth. As a result, the child’s hand is limited in movement. Or it does not lend itself at all to motor processes. Outwardly, such a hand is parallel to the body and is in an unbent state.

There are also cases when, due to a birth injury, a child’s arm and leg are paraparesis on one side of the body. Or he can have both lower limbs paralyzed. A congenital disease of the spinal cord may also be the cause of this condition of the body. In the case when the brain was affected during childbirth, paralysis will develop over time. Basically, changes in the body begin to be noticeable at the age of two. It is important that the child is examined by a highly qualified doctor. It is necessary to correctly diagnose and prescribe a treatment regimen that will give effective results.

Acquired disease in children

You should know that spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities in children can be an acquired ailment. It occurs due to impaired functioning of the baby’s nervous system. In this case, symptoms such as muscle tone and reflex pathologies appear, which become noticeable. It is worth noting that in this case the spinal cord works fine, without any deviations.

It is much more difficult for a child to diagnose paraparesis than an adult. Typically, this disease develops in the child's body due to trauma during the birth process. There are also cases when doctors are reinsured and make such a diagnosis. Moreover, in fact it is absent. After a certain time, this diagnosis is refuted or confirmed. Usually paraparesis passes in children in a relatively short period of time.

How to diagnose? What to do after?

It also happens that spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities in children is diagnosed when the child begins to walk. One of the symptoms of this disease is walking on toes. But this indicator is not an absolute symptom of the disease.

The fact is that walking on toes may be the result of other ailments in the children's body. It is impossible to accurately diagnose, thus, paraparesis of the lower extremities in children. Treatment in this case is prescribed to remove muscle tone in the legs. Therefore, the child in this case is assigned special gymnastics, massage and physiotherapy. As a rule, these methods have a beneficial effect on the baby.

Conclusion

Now it is clear what spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities is. These are functional malfunctions in the legs. This ailment is associated with damage to the spinal column. In the lower extremities of a person, strength decreases. At the first signs of this ailment, you must contact a medical institution.