Hypertonicity in newborns is a physiological process up to 3 months of age. If the baby's muscles continue to be tense after 4 months, then this is defined as a symptom of a neurological disease. Massage from the tone for infants helps to relieve it during the full course.
The baby lies on mom's feet
Causes of muscle hypertonia in children
During intrauterine development, babies are in the embryo position. Their legs are bent at the knees and pressed to the body. The arms are bent at the elbows, the palms are in fists and pressed to the chest. The body is twisted in a semicircle. The fetus is in this position until the moment of birth. After birth, the child often continues to sleep in this position.
Muscle tension completely disappears only by three months. Until this age, hypertonicity is considered the norm. Not all children have this problem. Several factors contribute to the development of tension:
- hypoxia during pregnancy;
- birth injury;
- infectious factors.
Defeat by infection in the first months of life and during intrauterine development contributes to the development of hypertonia in the future in the child.
Important! A pregnant woman should take care of herself, avoid catching colds, contact with unfamiliar pets.
Signs of hypertonicity in newborns
Every young mother should know the signs of tense muscles in a child in order to sound the alarm in time. You should consult a doctor if the crumbs have the following symptoms:
- troubled sleep;
- the baby sleeps with his head thrown back;
- the baby bends his arms and legs to the body;
- chin trembles while crying;
- frequent regurgitation is observed;
- the child's movements are constrained;
- the newborn has learned to hold his head up to one month of age;
- after three months continues to keep the handles in their fists.
If you have several symptoms at the same time, you should tell the local pediatrician about this. He will prescribe a massage for hypertonicity in a baby. Up to three months, a course of 15-17 visits is prescribed. Usually, the treatment is successful, and the muscles of the baby remain in the desired tone.
Important! Do not hesitate to see a doctor. The longer the baby is exposed to hypertonicity, the worse the consequences will be.
Baby feet
Effect of massage on muscle tissue
In the human body, there are about 600 muscles, which consist of fibers, through which they are connected by the intercellular substance. Muscles are striated and smooth. The former line the surface of the body under the skin, it is they who are exposed to increased stress in newborns. Massage to a child for 3 months with hypertonicity has a beneficial effect on the muscles:
- Increases the elasticity of muscle fibers.
- Redox processes are accelerated.
- Muscle starvation is eliminated.
- Muscle metabolism and tissue nutrition are normalized.
- Helps relax baby's muscles.
- Reduces muscle lactic acid levels.
After the first 3-4 sessions with a specialist, the child's condition will improve significantly. The baby will begin to sleep better, regurgitation will decrease. The baby's body movements will become smooth, relaxed.
Parents and doctors should work together to treat the child. Doctors instruct mothers to do gymnastic exercises at home, visit the pool, do a smoothing massage for the baby on their own.
Therapeutic massage has its own characteristics. Only a specialist doctor who works with children can carry it out correctly. The main movements are smoothing, since the child's body is very fragile, and the skin is easily traumatized.
Massage to relieve muscle tone in babies at 3 months is prescribed 2-3 times a week. The specialist shows parents how to properly deal with a newborn at home. The course lasts 15-17 sessions with a break of 3 weeks, until the age of 1 year.
Collage: the child is being massaged
How to do massage for hypertension at home
Doctors and pediatrician Komarovsky recommend performing additional procedures at home. A relaxing massage for infants with hypertonicity will help restore muscle function. Before starting the course of treatment, it is worthwhile to study some of the features.
Condition for massage
The doctor at the reception tells about all the features of the massage for hypertonicity in an infant at 2 months. It is better to write down the recommendations so as not to get confused. For newborns, certain conditions are created:
- The room is ventilated 40 minutes before the start of the session.
- The air temperature in the room should not be lower than 220C.
- The newborn should not be hungry before the procedure.
- You cannot start the massage immediately after feeding, you should wait at least 30 minutes.
- The session is carried out in the morning, the procedure lasts from 5 to 15 minutes.
- The mother should not have any jewelry on her arms, since the baby's skin is very sensitive.
- Also, hands are washed before starting the process.
- You can use a special baby cream to help moisturize your baby's skin.
- If the baby is in a bad mood, then the procedure is postponed.
The entire course of home treatment lasts at least 10 sessions. Typically, hypertonia occurs before the age of three months. However, the residual stress can remain for up to six months. It is advisable not to give up baby massage.
Baby gets a massage, collage of 5 photos
Preparation for massage
Preliminary preparation for a massage with muscle tone in a baby will not take much time. It includes several simple steps:
- You need to ventilate the room for 10 minutes.
- The air is heated to a temperature of 220C.
- The masseur washes his hands, must remove all jewelry.
- A diaper is spread on the massage table.
- Lay the newborn on it and undress him.
The baby is fed in advance to keep him in a good mood. They lay the crumb on the back, facing themselves and begin smooth rubbing.
Massage technique
During the procedure, all muscle groups should be affected. Handles, legs, back and tummy are massaged. The area of the heart, liver and genitals is avoided. Execution technique:
- The procedure is started from the tummy. Circular clockwise movements are repeated with smooth movements. Do several approaches by rubbing up and down.
- The masseur's palms are fixed on the collarbone, the handles are stroked several times. Stop on the palms. With one hand they hold the baby's handle on the wrist, with the other, massage the palm and fingers. Then they offer the baby to hold the item. The same is done with the second hand.
- Again they go to the tummy, make several circular movements and go to the legs.
- Connect two feet in the masseur's hand. Smoothly raise and lower the baby's legs several times.
- Light strokes massage the child's leg from the hip to the heel, linger on it and work out the fingers. Repeat for the other leg.
- Turn the baby over on the tummy and massage the back and gluteal region by stroking, smoothly moving to the legs.
- Dress the baby in clothes.
The whole process takes only 10-15 minutes. During this time, the child's muscle tone has time to recover.
Important! All movements, rubbing and stroking are carried out very smoothly and carefully so as not to harm the child.
Crumb on the tummy
Gymnastic exercises
Gymnastics for hypertonicity in infants plays the same important role as massage in solving the problem of hypertonicity. There are several effective exercises to do after the massage. Here are a few of them:
- The baby is laid on the back. The neck and head are fixed with one hand, and the other is placed under the buttocks. With both hands, they smoothly bend and unbend the baby. Repeat 8-10 times.
- Fitball exercises are among the most effective. They lay the baby with their tummy on the ball, with the hands of the masseur fixes the child's hands on the ball. Swing the ball up and down for 2 minutes.
- They take the baby's armpits, raise and lower him up and down several times.
- They put the child on the back. They take the baby's hands, spread them apart and connect. Then they are lifted up and down.
Gymnastics combined with massage accelerates the healing process. The baby's muscles stretch well. After physical exertion, the baby sleeps better.
Baby on fitball
Contraindications
For the procedure, there are several contraindications that parents should know about:
- Any skin rash or small wounds.
- Allergic manifestations and diathesis.
- High body temperature and colds.
- Congenital heart defects with impaired blood circulation.
- Rickets in a pronounced degree.
- Severe muscle dystrophy.
- Large umbilical hernias.
- Diseases of the liver and kidneys, which are accompanied by a violation of the function of these organs.
- Increased fragility of bones.
- Violation in the development of the musculoskeletal system.
If the baby has at least one of the points of contraindications, then it is strictly forbidden to massage the baby. Any action must be accompanied by medical advice.
Hypertonicity in infants occurs in 50% of cases. Most often, it passes by three months, and the baby continues to actively develop. Massage and gymnastics help relieve the baby's condition and relax muscles. Parents can do the procedure with their own hands.
