United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My 2 y/o is one that I think some people would have thought had a "full recovery." She had only finger movement/grip at birth and also brought her hand to her mouth around 1-2 months, although she began by cheating, bringing her head to her hand as much as her hand to her mouth. Nobody can tell she has anything going on until it is pointed out, and she is functional. But she still has scapular winging and hikes that shoulder. She still has mild tightness around the scap and her scap "clunks" sometimes when I range her. She tucks her thumb under her fingers when holding a spoon. And she seems to be a little confused about which hand dominance to choose. All in all, she is doing very well, but I agree with everyone when they say to have your child monitored by a BPI specialist. There can be mild residual problems and, if your child has growth spurts, you can see an increase in tightness w/ extra difficulties related to this as well during these times.

Meant to add also, because you were asking what else to expect in terms of recovery, that nerve regeneration can happen until about 18 months of age, and after that you can have more progress with strengthening.

Also, biceps function before 3 months of age is a very good sign, and one doctors look for when deciding whether or not to do nerve surgery.

Good luck!

Diane,
firstly this is great news, Josh never bought hand to mouth until he was almost 2, after shoulder release surgery!
But do get her checked out by a specialist, each injury is individual.

All I want to add is stimulate, stimulate, stimulate... and then some!

I had a bag of items of different textures which I ran up & down Joshua's arm.
We used different strips of fabric, from silk to rough hesian, a baby hairbrush, different texture paper even!
Also warm & cold water, I soaked flannels & alternated.

Also I gently rubbed in baby oil, any touch should stimulate the nerves.
Josh proved to have patchy sensation at first. This has improved over the years, the biggest improvements were seen in the first 18 months.

All this will help the arm - brain links. You can't do too much, and can start today, the PT and OT I suggest get a specialist to advise.

Love to you & yours
Pauline