💚 Acupuncture and cerebral palsy: when love is not enough, science is needed / 💚

Recently on Facebook, I came across a question that many parents have probably asked themselves: “Is acupuncture suitable for children with cerebral palsy, spastic form?”

The answer came from Georgi Ivanov – a specialist with profound knowledge of neurophysiology. And it was one of those answers that don’t comfort you — but bring clarity.

“No,” he said, “because in a child with cerebral palsy, the mechanisms that acupuncture can influence are completely different from those involved in pain. In the case of pain, we activate existing inhibitory pathways in the brain – systems that suppress signals through endogenous opioids. But with cerebral palsy, the problem lies elsewhere.”

The truth is that in cerebral palsy, the damage is not functional but structural – it’s in the very program that controls muscle tone.The neurons that should “command” movement are either damaged or underdeveloped.

“The needles cannot restore those connections,” Ivanov explains.

Yes, the mechanical stimulation from the needles may produce a temporary sensory effect – a brief pause in spasticity lasting only a few minutes. But it does not create new neural connections, nor does it build plasticity.

“The real, lasting effect comes only from neuromotor rehabilitation, functional electrical stimulation, and in some cases – botulinum toxin. Acupuncture may be used as additional sensory stimulation, but not as a therapy to relax the muscles. There is no anatomical basis for that.”

In other words – it’s not dangerous, but it’s meaningless. Any placebo effect, if it exists at all, works more on us, the parents – on our hope, our constant need to do something. But not on the child’s neural architecture.

Real change comes slowly, persistently, every single day –from repeated movements, from proprioceptive feedback, from those awakened pathways in the brain learning to walk again.

That’s where the miracle lies. Not in the needles. But in the effort – ours and theirs. ❤️

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A6qDqBedw/