When you talk about cerebral palsy, it is not just about one medical condition. Still, it comes with many associated conditions, making it extremely difficult to manage things. No doubt cerebral palsy has a significant impact on the life of the child, but the related conditions can make it more challenging. One such is cerebral palsy hemiplegia. Generally, you will see the individuals confused between hemiplegia and hemiparesis. Although the medical terms sound pretty similar, both of them occur in the aftermath of a stroke. However, there is a vast difference between the two.
Understanding the difference
Hemiplegia here refers to complete paralysis. However, on the other side, hemiparesis is a partial weakness. Both terms refer to one-sided after-effects, which is known as hemi. However, plegia refers to paralysis, while paresis is about muscle weakness.
What causes hemiplegia and hemiparesis?
Most often, you will hear that hemiparesis and hemiplegia result from stroke. Let’s see the difference between cerebral palsy v/s stroke. Generally, a stroke happens when there is a blockage or bleeding in the brain. It compromises the blood flow on one side of the brain and results in hemiplegia or hemiparesis on the other side of the body. The extensive and complex damage will result in hemiplegia and paralysis, while hemiparesis happens if the damage is less severe. Now, symptoms of both conditions depend on the severity and location of the stroke.
No doubt, hemiplegia and hemiparesis share the root cause: impaired communication between muscles and the brain. Now, the brain is responsible for controlling how our body moves. Therefore, when there is a stroke, the consequence is disruption of the neural connections, oxygen, and blood flow between the brain and muscles. This often results in muscle weakness and potential paralysis of the body.
There are other causes of hemiparesis and hemiplegia, which can include:
- Brain infections
- Trauma to the brain or spinal cord
- Brain tumour
- Multiple sclerosis
What are the risk factors of having hemiplegia and hemiparesis?
When the patient experiences muscle paralysis or weakness on one side of the body, it can disrupt day-to-day life. In addition to these side effects, it can result in more injuries, falls, reduced walking speed, decreased energy, or all the challenges of performing regular activities. For example, you will experience more difficulty in getting dressed, cleaning, self-care tasks, cooking, etc. You can also require assistance while performing activities you used to perform by yourself. This becomes more complicated when you suffer from cerebral palsy hemiplegia. After all, the associated conditions make life quite challenging for people.
How can hemiparesis and hemiplegia affect your regular life?
When you get muscle paralysis or weakness, it can interrupt how you want to perform your regular activities. This can be pretty frustrating when you live with hemiplegia or hemiparesis. It will affect how you perform your care tasks like shaving, using the restroom, or getting dressed. These activities may take longer to perform, and you will require help from a care partner.
Some activities will require more energy to complete. However, some activities might no longer be possible due to your hemiplegia or hemiparesis. Make sure to discuss your needs and wants for recovery with your partner. They will help you with your daily activities.
How are hemiparesis or hemiplegia diagnosed?
Medical professionals can use different methods and assessments to understand how severe your hemiparesis or hemiplegia is. First, your medical doctor will perform a medical exam, including testing your muscle strength and reflexes. In addition, your medical doctor will also use imaging tests to determine the severity and location of your hemiplegia. Some of the tests here will include.
- Magnetic resonance imaging
- Computed tomography
- Electromyography
- Nerve conduction study
Some sensory tests will include
- Discriminating between hot and cold
- Two-point discrimination
- Ability to localise touch
- Sharp and blunt discrimination
- Joint position sense
- Bilateral simultaneously
How can hemiparesis or hemiplegia be treated?
Once the patient is diagnosed with cerebral hemiplegia or hemiparesis, the goal of treatment is to increase muscle strength, register function, and mobility. While muscle weakness and coordination impairments can improve over time, rehabilitation is required to regain strength. It is often recommended to optimists for overall patient safety. Rehab can be optimized, and treatment treatments will include occupational, physical, and speech therapy. This can vary depending on the patient’s condition and the doctor’s advice.
How to cope with hemiplegia or hemiparesis?
Even when diagnosed with this medical condition, you can live your life to the best of your ability. It will not stop you from living a successful life. Although hemiparesis and hemiplegia can make your day-to-day life difficult, a successful recovery plan can be helpful for you. Make sure you have an open mind and discuss with your partner and medical team about any questions or concerns that you may have to keep in mind. This is your stroke recovery, and you are in control of it.
There are also specific life changes you can make to live the best possible life
- Stay active for a better life
- Follow recommendations from your doctors and medical team. Make sure that you engage in training techniques that optimize brain-limb connection to build new neural pathways
- Incorporate assistive devices and technology into your home environment and lifestyle.
- Enjoy a healthy diet
- Get involved in community groups and support groups
Conclusion
Cerebral palsy, hemiplegia, or any other associated condition can make life extremely difficult. In case you have someone suffering from the same, then you should get started with treatment right away. You can always rely on the professionals of Trishla Foundation to provide quality care and treatment. No matter the case’s severity, you can devise a treatment plan that helps guarantee recovery.
