Exercising for Children With Cerebral Palsy

Children with cerebral palsy face a plethora of physical and emotional challenges on a daily basis. One might think that the last thing they would want to worry about is exercising. However, exercising is beneficial and essential for children with cerebral palsy. Some exercises may be incorporated with a child's physical therapy sessions. Also, there are certain recreational exercises that children with cerebral palsy may engage in with a doctor's consent.

Benefits

• Exercising will keep a child with cerebral palsy physically fit. Sometimes people are so distracted with the cerebral palsy itself that they forget that such children are in just as much need of exercising as children without cerebral palsy.
  The heart will reap benefits of any form of exercise, and it will help raise the child's self-esteem, too. Exercising for children with cerebral palsy also helps to relieve stress and gives them the opportunity to socialize through group activities. Working out helps to relieve the anxiety that is often associated with cerebral palsy, and helps to improve coordination, flexibility and strength while reducing chronic illnesses.

Physical Therapy

• Children who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy should start physical therapy immediately. Since children's bodies are still growing and developing, youngsters with cerebral palsy need help to learn how to cope with these changes.
  Physical therapy for cerebral palsy patients has two goals: to prevent the body's muscles from forming into a permanent, abnormal position; and to prevent the muscles from deteriorating and weakening. Various exercises, primarily strength training, are performed during physical therapy to meet these goals. Exercising also can help prevent contracture, which is a muscle complication.

Recreational Exercise

• Aerobic exercises are ideal if a child's physical condition permits and if her health professional gives consent. Dancing is a great way to burn calories while toning muscles, and helps a child let loose and relax. Exercise with any type of ball is an effective workout, and helps a child with cerebral palsy learn coordination skills.

  One of the best ways for a child with cerebral palsy to stay fit is by engaging in aquatic-based exercises, such as swimming. The natural resistance of the water helps to build muscle tone and is more comfortable for children who have bone deformations. Swimming also helps strengthen the lungs as well as the heart. What's more, children with cerebral palsy are fond of swimming because they are able to move easier in water than they are on land.

  Hippotherapy, or horseback riding, is an increasingly popular form of recreational exercise for children with cerebral palsy, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, because it improves motor skills, self-esteem, speech and overall emotional well-being.