Cerebral palsy is a broad term used to define a number of different neurological disorders. These disorders generally appear in infancy or early on in childhood development and generally affect muscle control, coordination, and body movement. While the damage is irrevocable, it does not worsen over the years.

Cerebral palsy can be caused by a variety of different ways including viruses contracted during gestation, such as German measles, or rubella, jaundice, or birth injury. Injury can occur during delivery when the baby is not ideally positioned for birth such as in a breech presentation, or when the birth canal is too narrow for the baby. In such cases, forceps or a vacuum extraction may be necessary to facilitate the delivery and errors made during the extraction may cause birth injuries such as cerebral palsy.

To describe the different types of movement disorders related to cerebral palsy, doctors and neurologists use different classification systems and labels. All children with cerebral palsy have damage to the area of the brain that controls muscle tone.  As a result, they may have increased muscle tone, reduced muscle tone, or a combination of the two.  Which parts of their bodies are affected by the abnormal muscle tone depends upon where the brain damage occurs. It is through the different types of muscle tone affected that the doctors classify each child’s specific type of cerebral palsy.

There are three main types of cerebral palsy: spastic, althetoid, and ataxic. Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type of cerebral palsy, accounting for nearly 80 percent of all cerebral palsy cases. Children with spastic cerebral palsy make stiff and jerky movements.  They often have a hard time moving from one position to another and may have a hard time holding and releasing objects. While some types of spastic cerebral palsy affect only one or two limbs, others can affect all four limbs of the body and may result in paralysis.

Althetoid cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the cerebellum or basal ganglia. These areas of the brain are responsible for processing the signals that enable smooth, coordinated movements as well as maintaining body posture; this makes the muscles fluxuate between too tight and too weak. Althetoid cerebral palsy patients generally have low muscle tone and may have difficulty holding their face and arms in an upright position, or may develop involuntary movements of the torso and arms. These involuntary movements often increase during periods of emotional stress and tend to disappear during sleep. Some sufferers also experience speech problems, drooling, and other difficulty in controlling the facial muscles. Roughly 20 percent of cerebral palsy patients suffer with althetoid cerebral palsy.

Ataxic cerebral palsy is the rarest of the three types of cerebral palsy. Children with Ataxic cerebral palsy have low muscle tone and poor coordination of movement causing them to look shaky and unsteady. They often walk unsteadily with a wide gait placing their feet far apart. These patients also have a difficult time mastering fine motor skills because of their uncontrollable shaking.

Mixed cerebral palsy is when a patient has a combination of the three main types of cerebral palsy, fluxuating between too tight muscle tone and the involuntary movements that accompany Althetoid cerebral palsy. The spastic movements are generally seen as a symptom as the involuntary movements gradually increase in frequency as the child grows.

Since cerebral palsy can result from a physician’s error, it is recommended that you contact a lawyer that specializes in birth injury lawsuits if you have a child that suffers from this condition. An experienced attorney will be able to determine if your child’s condition was caused by a birth injury, and if you are eligible for compensation for your medical bills. The lawyer will then be able to guide you through the steps necessary to build a strong case, improving your chances of a successful outcome.