By Kimberly S. Brown
Hippotherapy offers a lasting, positive impact on children with cerebral palsy.
Children who suffer from the frequent spasms and muscle tensing that come with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy can be helped with hippotherapy, according to research sponsored by the Horses and Humans Research Foundation (HHRF). What is even better is that those positive changes can last for months after hippotherapy treatments end!
The initial question was whether hippotherapy could improve head/trunk stability and upper extremity function in children with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. The study was conducted by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine’s Program in Occupational Therapy.
The researchers looked at the ability of the children to keep the head and upper trunk relatively still while the pelvis was in rhythmic motion.