The Best, The Very Best Treatments For PVL

Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is a severe, severe brain injury, men. So serious. It happens in babies! Sad. The damage in this one occurs in the white matter around the ventricles in the brain. Men, the white matter is supposed to transmit messages from nerves to the brain and back again! The huge, huge risk factors? You know them: premature birth and low birth weight. Men, you've also got to know that PVL often leads to cerebral palsy. The signs to watch for are vision issues, tight muscles, and motor skill problems. Another huge one? Developmental delays!

There's hope. Men, PVL treatment is out there! Symptoms direct the best treatment for periventricular leukomalacia. Many, many kids need some physical therapy for PVL. Occupational therapy for cerebral palsy is another great, great option. So great! Meds also help, including meds for seizures! Pain meds for inflammation work so well, so well, too. But hold your horses, men. You've got to understand your common options when it comes to treatment for PVL. Your doc's going to pick the very best ones.

Physical Therapy

Men, babies with PVL need physical therapy. It's a strong, strong treatment for them! Yes, so strong. Kids with PVL have developmental delays. Sad. That's why it's harder, so much harder, for them to reach many milestones! They'll reach them later. The standards they miss a lot are holding their head up at 4 months, sitting at 6 months, and walking around 12 months old!

Kids with PVL don't explore movement the same, triggering delayed development. Physical therapists check on each kid with this condition. They make sure they know where each kid needs help! Men, the physical therapist's going to make the best plan to boost the right developmental skills. They'll even show you how you can help at home! Kids learn how to move their muscles better in physical therapy. This is so great, so great, for kids with PVL. The best!

Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is another huge, huge treatment for PVL. Men, it's even going to help the kids who get cerebral palsy too! Speech therapy works on speech milestones, obviously. So obvious. IT's going to tackle many, many speech problems. With PVL and cerebral palsy, speech issues usually fall into 3 categories. The first is spastic issues, like words sounding a bit slurred. Ataxic problems mean issues with muscle control in the face, neck, and throat. Finally, men, expect help with athetoid issues. This means things like monotone speech that has weird accelerations and pauses!

Speech therapy helps kids with PVL in many, many ways. So many ways! It's going to make their speech muscles strong and boost their motor skills. What a win. This therapy's even going to help kids improve their understanding of language. When kids have swallowing problems, speech therapy is a great treatment! Speech therapy is the best for communication, men. It's going to help kids with learning and independence. They'll have better, much better, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Awesome!

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is another great SCA treatment. It's so powerful, so powerful! This is going to help kids with PVL to develop the skills they need to be independent. It's really good, really good when they've also got cerebral palsy, men. These therapists work on playing and learning with the kids. They'll help with fine motor skills too. A huge, huge example? Brushing their teeth! Occupational therapists even work with kids who have problems processing sensory info.

Kids with PVL who get this therapy are so much more independent. So much more. Their quality of life skyrockets, men, it skyrockets! They'll be more confident and find it a lot easier to develop more skills. Your responsibilities won't be as bad either, since kids do more for themselves after this therapy. What a huge, huge win, right? Right!

Assistive Devices

Adaptive and assistive devices are the best, the very best, for kids with PVL. They're even better when kids end up with cerebral palsy too! Kids need them to be independent. It's the only way. The only one! Assistive devices make it much easier for kids in school and socially. They'll be a lot more confident too, a lot more confident.

Mobility devices are huge here. So huge! The common ones are walkers, braces, and wheelchairs. Electric wheelchairs are amazing for kids who've got problems with using their hands! Communication devices are fantastic too. Some boards help kids share ideas with pictures! Speech-generating devices are the best when kids have trouble forming words. And when your kid has trouble holding a pen to write? Men, you've got to get them a typing device!

Medication

Sad news. No meds treat PVL itself. No, none! But men, hold up. There are meds for PVL symptoms! Yes, there are. Kids with PVL need different meds for different symptoms. Anticholinergics tackle tremors, uncontrolled spasms, and yes, spasticity too! It doesn't stop there. Anticonvulsants are a strong, strong type of med for seizures when kids get them with PVL and cerebral palsy. They'll also handle the spasms, tremors, and spasticity!

Low mood is very, very common in kids with PVL. Emotional regulation is tough too! Men, that's when docs prescribe antidepressants for PVL. Obviously, tight, tight muscles in PVL and cerebral palsy mean pain and inflammation. That's when kids need some anti-inflammatories! And when they've got digestive problems? A stool softener will come to the rescue!