Botox for children with Cp

[skewiff]

DS has hemiplegia. He is booked to have Botox in his thumb, supinator muscle and calf later on this month.

This is in the hope of improving DS's body function - long term. However I'm having wobbles about it all.

DS already does 45mins - 1 hour of physio/OT every day before school. He is progressing really well and learning how to supinate and move his thumb. He can walk very well too. Just tiptoes on tired days - or days where he's not done much walking.

Will the Botox help do you think? Or is it better for just providing temporary relief?

I only want to do it once. Is that OK?

I believe it will only be short term, and the idea is to have fairly intensive physio in that time to obtain a function which was too difficult to start with. The hope is that with continued therapy the spastic muscles will be stretched because of the new function, and remain that way because the function (like walking correctly) remains. Hope that makes sense. If your DS has full stretch already but just loses function when tired does he really need this? I am sure the neuro would have looked at it all before advising it. Saying that its generally very safe if done correctly and you may find after one go that your son responds well or alternatively it makes no difference. These decisions are always difficult but botox is a relatively minor procedure.

Botox for people who have CP is usually administered to reduce tone in specific muscles. It's usually done with a more concentrated programme of treatment to work on the opposer muscles with the hope that the greater freedom of movement will allow increases in strength or range of movement.

It is a short term procedure and the effect of the dose will wear off.

Of course, you can decide that you dont want it done, just once or you may find that the benefits mean that you are anxious for him to have it again.
Do you know any other parents who have experience who can advise you about it?