Does anyone know the pros and cons for botox injections for CP children?
Our son is 8 years old and one of his doctors wants to try it out.
We are trying to make an educated decision based upon real life experiences.
Thanks,
Tony

I work (Supportive Living - Inhome services) with several clients with CP. One (B age 14) of them recently had Botox last summer. His muscles have lossened exstensively. He can now manipulate things with his hands where as before he couldn't. He's learning to feed himself and pick up balls. He couldn't be more happy with his results.

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Renee

My 9 year old daughter has botox injections in her elbows to enable her to straighten her arms. It works really well, but has to be topped up every 4 months, although we are hoping to prolong the treatment with extensive physio.

My 9 year old daughter has botox injections in her elbows to enable her to straighten her arms. It works well, but has to be topped up every 4 months - although with extensive physio it may last longer. She has a tiny amount of anaesthetic while they do it, just to keep her still. Last time they used a little bit more than usual to try to make the effect last longer and it made her neck too floppy, but that soon wore off. Overall I feel it is a great treatment that has benefited her.

I HAVE A 14 YEAR OLD SON THAT HAS JUST UNDERGONE HIS 5th SURGERY ON HIS HIPS, AND LAST SUMMER WAS THE FIRST TIME BOTX INJECTIONS WERE EVER BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION, KNOWING NOTHING ABOUT IT I DID SOME RESEARCH ON MY OWN, AND MADEA LIST OF EVERY QUESTION I COULD THINK OF AND GAVE IT TO THE DOCTOR FOR HIM TO ANSWER IN HIS OWN WORDS. ONE OF THE MORE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR ME WAS "WILL THE INJECTIONS ACHIEVE ANYTHING MORE THAN INCREASED PHYSICAL THERAPY WOULD, AND IS THE INCREASED PHYSICAL THERAPY GOING TO BE JUST AS IMPORTANT WITH THESE INJECTIONS AS WITHOUT?" HIS EXACT WORDS TO ME WERE " THE INJECTIONS ARE JUST A JUMPSTART FOR THE MUSCLES TO LOOSEN AND MAKE IT EASIER TO MAXIMIZE THE PROGRESS OF MY SONS THERAPY SESSIONS" I OPTED NOT TO HAVE MY SON INJECTED, FOR I FELT THAT HIS ROAD IS TO BE A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY WITH, OR WITHOUT THEM, AND I COULDNT SEE HIM IN ANYMORE PAIN, AND I DIDNT LIKE THE FACT THAT IT WOULD HAVE TO BE REPEATED EVERY SO OFTEN EITHER. MY SON HAS ACHIEVED EXACTLY THE SAME GOALS, WITH A MORE AGGRESSIVE THERAPY AND ALL THE SUPPORT IN THE WORLD FROM HIS FAMILY. BUT IM ONLY ONE PERSON, AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF MY SONS DISABILITY MAY BE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF YOURS, ALL I CAN SAY IS GO WITH YOUR GUT.

My 5 year old daughter had the botox injections in her left arm and leg. It worked really well on her leg but it made her arm worse. I guess that is something that can happen. She screamed when she was getting hers done, we had to hold her down. I swore I would never do that again to her, it was terrible to see her go through that. She is getting extensive PT/OT now and she is doing great.

I have a 5 year old daughter with CP and my cousin has a 5 year old son with CP. They are both mild. My cousin had her botox injections given to her son. It worked very well for about 4 months and then it needed to be redone. She said that she didn't want to do it again because he needed about 15 injections of the botox (I thought it was just one shot)in his one leg and she couldn't go through that again. No physical harm was done by the injections, the effects just don't last long.