low muscle tone

[Guest guest]

>have never related this to illness because she is

never obviously ill.

You can still be ill and not show symptoms,

inability to develop muscle tone is that not a problem?

ONE can have cancer years before symptoms show.

--

Neil

[Guest guest]

Hi Grace,

From the " On-line medical dictionary " :

" electromyography

<investigation> A test which measures muscle response to nerve stimulation.

Used to evaluate muscle weakness and to determine if the weakness is related

to the muscles themselves or a problem with the nerves that supply the

muscles.

Abnormal results may be seen in myasthenia gravis, polymyositis, carpal

tunnel syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, alcoholic neuropathy,

cervical spondylosis, dermatomyositis, familial periodic paralysis,

Guillain-Barre syndrome, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, Friedreich's ataxia,

mononeuritis multiplex, peripheral neuropathy, sciatic nerve disease and a

variety of peripheral nerve disorders.

Acronym: EMG "

Rhonda son Cherry

mom to Maddie, age 4, oral-motor sequencing issues, suspected apraxic

Richmond Hill, Ontario CANADA

Visit the Apraxia Ontario Support Group website at

http://apraxiaontario.homestead.com/

[Guest guest]

What is an emg. I have been told that my daughter may

have low muscle tone...but no test was indicated...???

GRACE

--- edie@... wrote:

hi all,

   my son has low muscle tone ,we had an emg

done and  it came back

postive for muscle weakness and that we should do a

skin and muscle

biopsy. my son is also having problems with his eyes.

any info wou

[Guest guest]

hi

when a child has low muscle tone , don't they need pysiotherapy.

my son gets therapy and we get a home program . muscles need to get

stronger. mind you with our son it maybe more than just low muscle

tone, we'll have to wait until they do the muslce biopsy.

edie--

In @y..., grace creaturalee <mamaggratz@y...>

wrote:

> What is an emg. I have been told that my daughter may

> have low muscle tone...but no test was indicated...???

> GRACE

> --- edie@t... wrote:

>

>

> hi all,

>    my son has low muscle tone ,we had an emg

> done and  it came back

> postive for muscle weakness and that we should do a

> skin and muscle

> biopsy. my son is also having problems with his eyes.

> any info wou

[Guest guest]

Hi shannon, have you tried homeopathy, there are many remedies that may help

with the muscles, just a thought. kate

[Guest guest]

My 3.5 yr old son has low muscle tone too but we can't go to Occupational

Therapy. Would you mind sharing the acivities to improve strength that you

do with your own son for low muscle tone?

Any ideas would be very much appreciated as I have been wanting to do stuff

with him but have no idea what would be beneficial.

Thanks!

LeighAnn

From: Graham <grahambo@...>

Subject: [ ] Low muscle tone

> Hello,

>

> I am somewhat new to this list serv. I live in Oregon, in a small

> town. My 4 year old son has been seeing a speech therapist for 1 year

> now. About a month and a half ago, she gave him a test that confirmed

> that he is Apraxic, though we had thought he might be for a year. Even

> more recently he was evaluated by a physical and occupational

> therapists. They found that he has low muscle tone. We will be trying

> to improve his muscle tone on our own, because the therapist only come

> to town once a month, and would only be able to see him for a short

> time. We have many ideas on activities we can do to improve his

> strength, but are wondering if anyone knows of a vitamin supplement or

> foods that could help improve muscle tone.

[Guest guest]

Hi Kate,

Can you tell me more about Homepathy?

Thank you!

eggesford@... wrote:

> Hi shannon, have you tried homeopathy, there are many remedies that may help

> with the muscles, just a thought. kate

>

[Guest guest]

Hi shannon, i am not a homeopath but have used it since i was a kid and have

always used the remedies with my kids. It is a very safe alternative to drugs

and when given the right remedy can be extremely effective. I would suggest

going on line and doing a search for a homeopath. Try to find one with as

much experience as possible and preferably one that treats children a lot. Do

you ever come down to L.A? The other thing i was going to mention about the

prolapse is acupunture and chinese herbs. After my second child i had bad

prolapse and was told to have a hysterectomy the thing that has helped me the

most was a doctor of chinese medicine but i know that could be difficult with

a child. Maybe you could find someone to treat the acupunture points with

acupressure(using only their fingers) Good Luck. kate.

[Guest guest]

Hi LeighAnn,

We are fortunate at our house as far as activities go to help with his

low muscle tone. We have an above ground pool, a steep hill in the back

yard, both for strength. For coordination, we have him practice walking on

the curbs. We also have a therapy ball which we have him sit on and roll

around on. This works his trunk muscles. Or just have him run a lot! This

is actually physical therapy. For occupational therapy, we have him pick up

very small objects and maybe put them into a bottle with a small opening at

the top. We have him hold a pen or pencil and write or draw. He also uses

a wiggle pen sometimes. Puzzles and blocks will help, too.

~~

[Guest guest]

To the list: Please be aware that one should do as much research & be just

as cautious about homeopaths as with any medicines, physicians, OTs, PTs,

speech pathologists, etc. Homeopathic physicians can make errors, prescribe

incorrectly, over-dose, etc., just as can any other physician. I say this

because of personal experience with one of my children who was in the

hospital for a couple of weeks recovering from homeopathic treatment. Many

people seem to believe that if something is not part of the establishment,

it must be okay or better! I believe this to be immature thinking.

Vera

--

[Guest guest]

Dear LeighAnn,

Here are a list of ideas that Igot from the Occupational and Physical therapists

that you can try to do with your son. I hope these help:

Moving through obstacle courses- create an obstacle course that requires your

son to change his body positions and ways of moving. Include tunnels, balance

beams, boards, stepping stones, stairs, ladders, etc. This can be set up inside

or outside. be creative use pillows as stepping stones, a rope on the floor for

a balance beam, climb over a chair, etc.

Walking like an animal- encourage your son to walk like a bear, a crab, a

turtle, a snake, an inch worm, a duck, a frog, a Kangaroo, a bunny, a Gorrilla,

or a horse. This would be fun to do with music.

Wheelbarrow walking- Lay a rope on the floor and see how far your son can walk

on his hads while you hold his knees or ankels.

Playground Games- Simon Says, Ring Around the Rosy, Hokey Pokey, London Bridges,

Mother May I, etc. Get him to use different body movements during the game.

Ex. Skip Around the Rosy, Hop Around the Rosy, or Simon Says stand on one foot,

Simon Says, Jump like a frog. Etc.

Standing and Walking Balance- Walking along a curb, balance beam or board, Hops

ctotch, Stepping on bubbles or water balloons, and kicking a ball.

Walking or running up and down hills

Bouncing on a Bouncing ball with a handle: (The kind of ball a child sits on

and it has a handle to hold on to. I started by holding onto my son's hips as

he did all of the work bouncing, because he did not have the balance to stay

sitting on the ball. Make sure you do it where there is gentle ground or floor

below them.

Exploring Playground Equiptment- climbing, sliding, swinging, riding, and

balancing

Jumping on a child size trampoline witha handle, or holding on to your hands.

(I let bounce on my bed or the couch cushions put on the floor)

Riding trikes, bikes, scooters, and horses

Walking on unstable surfaces- A sandy beach, a grassy meadow, a suspended bridge

at a playground.

Swimming-

Tumbling, somersalting, and leapfrog

Pushing and pulling- Set grocery bags by the door and have your son drag or

carry them to the kitchen, let him push a wheelbarrow, stroller, vacuum, rake,

shove heavy boxes, help you move furniture, tow a load or a friend in a wagon.

Push on you while you are in a crawling or kneeling position and see if he can

push you over. Roughhouse with him and you try to push

him over. Get him to steady himself in a stance position and keep his balnce by

using muscles in his legs. Have a friend or a sibling sit in a box or laundry

basket and have him push them around the house.

Tug of War- Get a long thick rope and tie knots in it to make it easier to grip.

Divide equal teams. Try it sitting, standing, and kneeling.

Doing anything that is making him work on his muscles is good for him. Make

sure you make everything fun so that it does not seem like work. When we go on

family walks, and I will pick hard little berries and throw them at my

husbands legs and backside, and then run away from him like he is going to get

us. We make up all kids of games along the way so the

is doing a lot of exercise that he does not even realize. Good Luck. I

hope these help. If you come up with any of your own ideas that work with you

and your son, please send them my way. Take Care!

Sincerely,

Graham

bygpub wrote:

> My 3.5 yr old son has low muscle tone too but we can't go to Occupational

> Therapy. Would you mind sharing the acivities to improve strength that you

> do with your own son for low muscle tone?

>

> Any ideas would be very much appreciated as I have been wanting to do stuff

> with him but have no idea what would be beneficial.

>

> Thanks!

> LeighAnn

>

>

[Guest guest]

That's interesting- I had double jointedness when I was little, it was never attributed to BPES.

I have never been much of an athlete, I never had good eye-hand coordination.

I am concerned about my daughter, she can walk but is so afraid to let go of my hands or furniture or whatever she is holding onto. She doesn't have to tilt her head to play with things or look straight on at something, but I still watch for the head tilt. She has slings, I can't imagine if she didn't her ptosis is severe. I am watching for the low muscle tone. I walked at 13-14 months, anyone else's child a "late walker"?

for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

[Guest guest]

Hi...

Both of my kids were "late walkers" Caylie (my daughter is affected with BPES, my son is not) actually walked earlier than her brother, but she is the one we still have concerns about regarding muscle tone. We have her in dance now (ballet and tap) and have done gymnastics among other things to help her, but the ballet has been amazing, we have seen such a change in her over the last year. I don't know if it is just a coincidence because of her age (she's 4 now), but she is even doing WAY better in the playground. She climbs things etc, whereas last year, there was no way she could or would even attempt it. We were actually going to have her referred to an occupational therapist, but things seem to be getting much better.

Trish

blepharophimosis low muscle tone

That's interesting- I had double jointedness when I was little, it was never attributed to BPES.

I have never been much of an athlete, I never had good eye-hand coordination.

I am concerned about my daughter, she can walk but is so afraid to let go of my hands or furniture or whatever she is holding onto. She doesn't have to tilt her head to play with things or look straight on at something, but I still watch for the head tilt. She has slings, I can't imagine if she didn't her ptosis is severe. I am watching for the low muscle tone. I walked at 13-14 months, anyone else's child a "late walker"?

for GoodClick here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

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[Guest guest]

hi and welcome!

I have a short answer and a really really long one.

EI -it depends on which state you are in for how it works. In some

states it's free....and for the next question...

Low muscle tone or hypotonia is typically mild for those children

today with communication impairments -so called something (now don't

get freaked out by this name -remember it starts with the

word " benign " ) benign congenital hypotonia. I have many links

below -so you'll have even more to research. While benign congenital

hyptonia sounds so severe -the diagnosis " floppy baby " doesn't sound

as severe -but if your child's hypotonia was severe your wouldn't

need an EI therapist to diagnose the " low tone " as you would have

know from birth or soon after.

Your child should for sure see a neurodevelopmental medical doctor

(neurodevelopmental pediatrician or pediatric neurologist) being that

he is both a late talker with at least one known " soft sign " . You

want to see a neuroMD to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of apraxia

or any other condition that may be behind this. You want to secure

appropriate diagnosis as early as possible so that you can secure

appropriate therapies if needed.

It's understandable that you are a bit upset about this -but know

that many adults you know probably have some form of mild hypotonia-

you can go through life perfectly fine with mild low tone- it's just

that in children that are " late talkers " the low tone is typically in

the truncal area which is crucial for breath control which is crucial

for speech. I have below some activities that you can do at home to

help with strengthening the truncal area. Also if your child has low

tone you want to know if your child has dysarthria (low tone in the

oral motor area) which would produce consistent errors -while apraxia

including oral apraxia which could be diangosed in a child as young

as yours -produces inconsistent errors. If you do get a diagnosis of

say " suspected apraxia " from the evaluation from the neuromedical

exam you may be able to use that to secure more appropriate speech

services. I didn't for example find out until it was too late that

there are actual EI programs that your child could qualify for- some

are private funded by grants -so still free.

and since I brought up oral apraxia

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/oralapraxia.html

does anything on this page ring a bell?

Please know there is so much hope no matter what. The success rate

here over the years has been quite high as most of the kids even with

a diagnosis of apraxia -or apraxia and PDD -end up mainstreamed and

talking -doing really well.

Let us know if you need neuro MD recommendation in your area.

OK -start of very very very long archive (when you think it's over -

it's probably not -doesn't end till your message way way down below!)

Re: truncal hypotonia

Great suggestions for truncal hypotonia! Here are a few others we

did for Tanner who was diagnosed with truncal hypotonia:

Try to get your child to watch TV, play games etc. while laying on

their stomach propped up with their elbows and arms so their upper

body and head are raised. As easy as this sounds to us -Tanner

tired quickly in this position and would collapse.

Have your child lay on a skateboard with their feet up in the air -

ankles crossed. Make a wall out of cardboard blocks, legos, or

whatever and while keeping their head and upper body raised enough

to see -they navigate using their hands to steer the skateboard to

knock down the wall. (knocking down the wall isn't the therapy -

keeping their upper body and head raised as long as possible while

on their stomach is)

Hold your child's legs and see if they can use their hands and arms

to " walk " For this one we pretty much had to hold Tanner up at

first, and closer to the hips than the ankles at first, to get them

to do it at all. I know Tanner used to " walk " two steps with his

hands and collapse!

I'm guessing this question came up due to this archive:

" Tanner has mild hypotonia throughout his body and mild sensory

issues -pretty much resolved now thanks to therapy but not 100%, and

fine motor planning aspects in his body also pretty much resolved.

Most aspects didn't show till later, as he got older.

It was once said to me that children with apraxia are typically very

bright and " know " what they should be doing because their receptive

skills are so superior to their expressive skills. In preschool

years it's quite easy for most of them to push themselves enough to

keep up " to blend " -it's as they get older and the pressures become

more

intense of what is expected of them -they break down.

While the average person can go through life perfectly fine with

mild hypotonia -the child with a communication impairment that has

hypotonia in the truncal area will greatly benefit from

interventions to strengthen their truncal area to support breath

control which is crucial for speech.

In addition -the child with hypotonia in the truncal area will have

trouble sitting at a desk for hours -upright- holding a pencil and

expected to write. They will be the children laying on the desk -

and viewed negatively by teachers and all as " lazy " etc. Not good

for self esteem -not your child's academic career either.

An apraxic child like my son Tanner can be the one that passed all

developmental milestones on time -but due to hypotonia needs a

stroller long after the other children his age don't. A child who

can climb to the top of the monkey bars, and throw a baseball like a

pro... at three -but due to the bizarre motor planning aspects of

apraxia -many times could not put on his socks or catch a ball even

when large and thrown from a short distance. Doesn't make sense all

the time -anything about your child -take them to a

neurodevelopmental MD just to make sure it's not apraxia. "

provided some great clinical clues of truncal hypotonia. Here

are some parent friendly clues. If you suspect low tone in your

child, this could be confirmed or ruled out by a neurodevelopmental

exam.

Here are some quick parent friendly signs of mild hypotonia:

A child with hypotonia will feel heavier than a child of the same

weight without hypotonia (kind of like the difference between

picking up your child when he's fast asleep vs. awake) Hypotonia can

be anywhere in the body. Does your child appear to tire faster than

other kids his age walking in the mall etc.? Will you and your wife

not dream of taking him anywhere without the stroller because you

know if you don't bring the stroller you will be stuck carrying him

because if you don't pick him up he will sit on the floor crying

with his arms in the air for you to pick him up again? And since

he's nonverbal -you will get looks from people passing by, or

perhaps even comments -that your child is acting spoiled. When you

pick him off the floor -it's not as easy as it looks for you -or

others that try! Most will say " wow he's solid! " when picking him

up. " Solid " is the word used by almost everyone to describe your

child when people pick him up come to think of it. His body may

look small and light -and many times both look like a cherub, and

feel a bit like a marshmallow -rounded and soft. He may sit in

the " W " position. If a child has severe hypotonia -he may look a

bit like a rag doll (those are the children however that are spotted

early however) -gravity just pulls them down. For a school age

child -look for the child who can't sit at the desk long before

leaning down on it. The child who when waiting on line will either

lean or sit down. The child (or adult) with rounded shoulders who

is always being told " stand up straight! " or " sit up! " etc.

http://www.cherab.org/information/speechlanguage/parentfriendlysoftsigns.html

There is more in The Late Talker book (from a neurodevelopmental

pediatrician's point of view as well as mine) and here is the link

for that. BTW the book is now out of stock at most and Noble

stores -even online so you may have to wait a week or two if you

want to buy there. Perhaps in the UK it's different? If not in the

meantime you can try other book stores or Amazon - and Noble

will have more as soon as they are printed (the demand I guess

shocked them and now they are printing trying to keep up!)

http://www.speech-express.com/late.talker.html

=====

[Guest guest]

Negative research about hypotonia? I don't know either -and I

probably posted the guinness book of world records longest archive on

hypotonia ever yesterday. Or did you mean to send this to a

different group Liz? If you find out what the negative research is -

let all of us know!

=====

[Guest guest]

We started our long history with low muscle tone, the speech came much

later. W sitting (has been mentioned many times here) and is one of

those soft signs spoke of (sorry , I never made it to the end

LOL) I hope thats what was said! Anywho.. every speech therapist who

came into my house immediately said- put the sippy cups in the

garbage! The straw cups are more work and it follows that he'd have

more of a struggle with them, but it makes sense if he has low tone

issues. But every time you get him to try one- its also more Therapy!

Good luck on your speech eval.

[Guest guest]

Horse back riding in general is probably the BEST exercise to increase muscle

tone throughout the body; it also works proprioception.

If I had access to it, you better believe that my kid would be riding daily or

weekly or anything! So, even if hippotherapy is unavailable for a 7 year

old.... I would jump at even regular riding lessons if you have a stables that

teaches riding within your community. Little girls tend to LOVE horses!

Janice