therapies

There can be so much to take in and begin to process when you are faced with an unexpected diagnosis or label for your child. Almost immediately you being to question what can be done to fix or minimise the condition and its possible impact as a life long disability. Mainstream therapies definitely have their value and place in your child's overall therapy plan. However, it's great to know that there are alternatives out there if you feel you want to try, or your child may benefit from, some additional intervention.

We hope that the information we have listed will be helpful in helping you educate yourself of many therapies available. Our aim is to consolidate helpful information into one resource so parents do not have to reinvent the wheel with each new diagnosis given. With this new found knowledge, you are empowered to make better choices for your child.

We have not tried all the therapies listed (those considered conventional or alternative) but should you want to hear our opinions on them, please contact us at therapies@perfectspirit.com.au. We will be more than happy to share our experiences or the experience of others that we know personally.

Please note that we are not, in any way, endorsing any of the therapies listed. We are merely sharing information to parents so that they can make their own choices based on their own unique circumstances and childs needs. It is always recommended that any new therapy plan should be be discussed with your child's paediatrician, doctor or care team prior to commencing.

 

Be sure to bookmark this page as it will be updated regularly. If there are any therapies that you think are worth adding to our list, please email them to therapies@perfectspirit.com.au We would encourage positive and constructive information about both traditional medical treatments and alternative paths.

 

If you've found any of these therapies particularly helpful please email me nicole@perfectspirit.com.au as I would love to hear about it. They've been collected over a period of almost 2 years so I would be thrilled to know that another parent has benefited from the research!


Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (also known as HBOT)
"Oxygen to the brain is what rain is to the desert – it creates an oasis of life".

HBOT safely delivers 100% Oxygen to the brain and spinal cord structures while inside a pressurized chamber, acting as a catalyst promoting neurovascular repair. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy works by increasing the saturative effect of dissolved oxygen into the blood and surrounding tissue structures that have been deprived of vital oxygen (hypoxic tissue). The pressure inside the chamber causes the Oxygen breathed to be dissolved at greater levels in the blood. This results in an increase of oxygen to the brain.

 

For instance, in the case where the brain has suffered oxygen deprivation, certain brain cells survive in a dormant state. HBOT can increase oxygen levels because the increased pressure forces oxygen into the blood plasma, the liquid part of the blood that normally does not carry oxygen, and into the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain. The plasma and spinal fluid can then reach areas that the red blood cells, which normally carry oxygen, cannot penetrate.

 

HBOT can also stabilize and repair what is called the blood-brain barrier, a protective layer of cells that keeps many toxins or noxious materials from reaching the brain. This barrier is often greatly disturbed when a brain injury occurs. As a result of the extra oxygen that HBOT provides, the dormant brain cells in the brain can be awakened and begin to function again. Recent studies have reported that HBOT results in about a 15-20 fold increase in oxygen saturation. This is about a 2,000% increase of dissolved oxygen into the brain and spinal cord structures!

 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not a miracle cure; it is simply a way of ensuring the most complete recovery possible. For more information about HBOT in Australia, please contact www.hypermed.com.au or call 03 9650 3136.

 

Further reading about HBOT can be found at:
www.oceanhbo.com
www.hbot.com
www.florida-oxygen.com
www.drcranton.com/hbo.htm
www.hbot.com

 

Stem Cell Treatment
A baby’s umbilical cord, once considered medical waste is a rich source of stem cells. Cells considered as the body’s “master cells.” These are the basic building blocks of the human body able to transform into blood, organs, tissue, and components of the immune system. Stem cells reproduce and differentiate into many other cell types, including but not limited to; bone, heart, muscle, and nerve. This is the miracle of cord blood.

 

Stem cells are capable of performing three important functions with unique abilities:
- Plasticity: Potential to change into other cell types like nerve cells
- Homing: To travel to the site of tissue damage
- Engraftment: To unite with other tissues

 

Stem cells are ‘immature’, lacking the ability to be recognized by the immune system, making the risk of an allergic reaction very unlikely. This means that, if they are injected, that cell should migrate to the site of injury attracted by specific chemicals released by the damaged tissue. The cell, by homing to the damaged area will fuse with the damaged tissue by the process of engraftment and become the same tissue by displaying the property of plasticity. In this instance, the stem cell should, for example, become a nerve cell.

 

The rest of the injected cells, which have not migrated or engrafted, will travel to the bone marrow where they will be stored with the body’s blood cells until needed. They can still respond, from the bone marrow, to signals from damaged tissue elsewhere in the body and migrate to that site. This is why responses are sometimes not noted until a few months after treatment.

 

Stem cells have the potential to reactivate stunned portions of the brain that have yet to die off secondary to the injury. They may also activate dormant stem cells within the body as well as create new Neuro pathways around the area of injury.

 

For more information about stem cell treatment please contact: www.stemcellschina.com

 

Further reading about stem cell treatment can be found at:


www.stemcellcentre.edu.au
www.regenecell.com
www.cellmedicine.com
www.stemcelltherapies.org

 

Advance Biomechanical Rehabilitation (ABR)
ABR is a unique biomechanically based rehabilitation approach for children and young adults with brain injury that brings predictable recovery of musculoskeletal structure and motor functions. ABR is the method of structural correction of musculoskeletal deformities. It is a hands-on method performed by the parents who learn the ABR technique and receive individual prescription of applications from the ABR professional staff.

 

ABR improves musculoskeletal structure so significantly that normal motor functions recover spontaneously, making special training and management for "motor disabled" unnecessary. ABR is a comprehensive philosophy of the child's recovery and opens a new dimension in the treatment of the mildest to the most severe motor dysfunctions in the sense that it gradually brings changes to the mechanical and electrical structure of the muscles, thus allowing spontaneous developments of motor function.

 

“The goal of ABR is to restore proper tone to the smooth muscles which in a cascade effect restores proportions and alignment of the skeleton. Once this is done, the muscle tone is normalized and the arms and legs have a normal range of mobility, so the children can develop their movements in normal spontaneous ways.” [Leonid Blyum]. Most parents who have engaged in ABR feel strongly that their child has benefited.

 

For more information about ABR please contact: www.blyum.com

 

Satellite clinics are arranged in Australia three times per year. For more information about these clinics, or general inquiries about ABR, please contact www.miraclekidz.com
http://www.thespasticcentre.org.au/news/the_scene/2008/thescene-5-2008.htm

 

Conductive Education
Conductive Education is a systematic and holistic approach to develop problem-solving skills through an educational program for people with cerebral palsy and motor disorders. It is not a therapy, but a multidisciplinary system that enhances the child's physical, cognitive, social skills and emotional well being.

 

Conductive Education is not just an exercise, it is "learning to learn" by intensive and repetitive practice, and, the application of various activities necessary for progress. This applies to motor skills, balance, sensory and perceptual functions, emotional development, language and cognitive functions.

 

For more information about Conductive Education in Australia, please contact: www.thespasticcentre.org.au/services/conded

 

Further reading about Conductive Education can be found at:


www.conductiveedwa.com.au
www.conductive.org.nz
www.rainbowcentre.org/rainbowcentre.asp
www.abilitycamp.com
www.conductive-ed.org.uk
www.conductive-education.org.uk/2008/

 

Miscellaneous therapies
The following therapies are available for browsing in no particular order. Some may be helpful now, others in time. We hope that they are useful in your search to improve the life of your child.

 

www.iahp.org
www.brain-injured-children.websyte.com.au
www.braininjury.com.au
www.g-therapy.org
www.braingym.com.au
www.craniosacraltherapy.org.au
www.craniosacraltherapy.org
www.cnsfoundation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=res_1#A
www.vitalstimtherapy.com
www.cppcltd.co.uk/cerebral-palsy-therapy-suit.html
www.healing-arts.org/children/cp/cptreatments.htm
www.harmonyhealth.net.au/qxci.php
www.familyhopecenter.org
www.americanequestrian.com/hippotherapy.htm
www.nature.com/nm/journal/v7/n3/full/nm0301_290.html
www.ketogenicdieting.com

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