Hire Specialist Beds to give Children with Cerebral Palsy a Good Night’s Sleep

Cerebral Palsy is one of the most common conditions that affects children in the world affecting approximately 17 million people in total; an estimate of 30,000 children in the UK are effected by Cerebral Palsy a year. People who are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy will encounter a number of issues and limitations in everyday life, this includes going to sleep. According to birth injury guide:

“It’s common for children with cerebral palsy to have sleeping difficulties. In fact, an estimated one out of every five children with cerebral palsy have some kind of sleeping disorder. Sometimes it’s related to breathing problems, and sometimes it’s due spasticity issues.”

Cerebral Palsy is a condition caused through damage to the brain that most often occurs in birth. There are four types of Cerebral Palsy a person can have: Spastic, Athetoid, Ataxic and Mixed. The most common type of Cerebral Palsy is Spastic; this form of Cerebral Palsy often causes people to experience frequent exaggerated movements of the body and stiffness in parts of the body.

These symptoms are primarily linked to damage in a person’s motor cortex, the section of the brain that controls voluntary movement. When this part of the brain is damaged, there can be difficulties with sending signals to the muscles to perform the intended movements.

There is no cure for Cerebral Palsy but there are ways to help improve the lives of people with the illness such as providing a bed that meets the needs that someone with Cerebral Palsy may have. As birth injury guide explains:

“Speak to a pediatric occupational therapist and physiologist about the optimal sleeping position for your child. You may also want to ask if there are any kind of accommodations that could be made to your child’s bed to help support him or her better during sleeping time.

Some children may have trouble breathing if they are flat on their back, so you may need get a bed that tilts up slightly so that they can breathe better.”

KIHTO can provide suitable bespoke beds for short or long-term hire that can accommodate the complex needs that comes with living Cerebral Palsy and provide a more comfortable sleeping experience. Helping improve the lives of people living with the condition and their families and carers, improving their comfort, sleep and independence.

The Arctic bed has a significant number of turning and profiling options available making it one of the most versatile products available and effective at caring for a range of conditions including Cerebral Palsy. A carer or the client in bed themselves can comfortably and safely move and turn the bed with the handsets and a few simple button pushes to achieve the ideal posture through the fully profiling features available, the client and carer can focus on certain parts of the body that require extra care or attention. This can help alleviate some of the more significant issues people with the condition face when using a bed such as limited mobility, uncomfortable positions and breathing difficulties.

One person who has significantly benefitted from the Arctic is Curtis, a young boy with a severe case Spastic Quadriplegia leaving him with other symptoms including blindness, chest infections, sleep apnea and epilepsy. Before receiving the Arctic, Curtis’ parents, Garry and Kyle would need to regularly move and reposition him in bed to clear his chest and help him breathe. This necessity had a negative impact on the quality of sleep that Curtis and his parents had. The automated turning feature of the Arctic bed allowed for Curtis to be gradually turned overnight without needing any extra help from either of his parents.

This meant that Curtis could receive the necessary physio care for his breathing and have a comfortable, uninterrupted night’s sleep. This feature also meant that his parents had significant cost savings in care from a reduction in Curtis’ needed medication. Garry and Kyle are clearly very happy with bed saying:

“We truly believe that your bed and turner has helped in keeping Curtis here with us. No pneumonia over winter is a first.”