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October 2, 2005

Working WIth Cerebral Palsy

I worked with my first cerebral palsy client this week. This charming 20-year-old had been born prematurely and as a result suffered from encephalitis. A shunt transports excess fluid from the brain to the abdomen. They suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and have undergone many surgeries and physical therapy.

Their visit this week was a birthday present. I simply worked back, shoulders and neck. What I found was a great deal of tension in the shoulders leading to the neck, especially on the left side. There is also a great deal of tension in lumbar region, so much so that I could not work deeply to relieve much tension because the area is so tender.

They expressed an interest in coming back for more massage, but upon hearing that massage may make them sore, they decided to wait to see how they felt. I will call on Monday to see if they had any side effects beyond the softening and loosening around the shoulders they reported at the end of our session.

Posted by linda at October 2, 2005 10:21 AM