Can high muscle tension in babies be cured?

The symptom of high muscle tone in infants can be treated in the early stages, but the baby needs to cooperate with the doctor for treatment and do post-operative rehabilitation training, so mothers should understand the treatment methods for high muscle tone in infants. The symptom of high muscle tone in infants can cause movement disorders and muscle spasms in infants. We should check the baby's body joints and then take medicine according to the doctor's advice.

How to treat high muscle tension in babies

The therapeutic effect is often not satisfactory. For systemic dystonia, the most commonly used drugs are large doses of anticholine drugs (Antan 6-30 mg/d orally; benztropine 3-15 mg/d orally) and/or dopamine depleting agents reserpine 0.1-0.6 mg/d orally. Levodopa and carbamazepine are effective in a few cases.

For localized or segmental dystonia, or for localized areas of particularly severe symptoms in systemic dystonia, local injection of refined botulinum toxin A is the preferred treatment. After the toxin is injected into the affected muscles, it can weaken the strength of involuntary contractions and has no effect on the basic neural mechanism that produces dystonia. Botulinum toxin injection is particularly effective for blepharospasm and tonic dysphonia. The dosage must be highly individualized. Injection treatment must be repeated every 3 to 6 months. Injection treatment should be performed by an experienced physician.

Muscle tension test method

1. Adductor Angle

The infant lies in a supine position, and the examiner holds the infant's knees to straighten the lower limbs, slowly pulls the infant's lower limbs to both sides to the maximum angle possible, and observes the angle between the two thighs.

2. Popliteal angle

Place the baby in supine position, bend the thighs so that they are close to the chest and abdomen, then straighten the calves and observe the angle between the thighs and calves.

3. Heel-to-ear test

Place the baby in supine position, pull the foot as far as possible towards the ear on the same side without leaving the pelvis off the table, and observe the angle between the line connecting the heel and hip joint and the table.

4. Dorsiflexion angle

The infant lies in a supine position, and the examiner presses the thumb against the sole of the infant's foot and uses the other fingers to hold the calf and heel to dorsiflex the foot toward the calf, observing the angle between the dorsum of the foot and the calf.

5. Scarf sign

The examiner holds the infant's back and neck in a semi-recumbent position, pulls the infant's hand through the chest to the opposite shoulder, wraps the upper arm around the neck, and pulls it back as far as possible to observe whether the elbow joint crosses the midline. Newborns cannot cross the midline, but infants aged 4 to 6 months can cross the midline.

6. Pull test

The baby is in a supine position, the examiner holds the baby's hands and pulls the baby in the upper and front direction. In the neonatal period, when the baby is pulled forward, the head hangs back, and when the trunk is in an upright position, the head tilts forward. At 5 months old, the baby's elbows can flex and actively exert force. Pay attention to whether the strength on the left and right sides is symmetrical.