United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Kristie- is there a better age to do this Encouragement therapy? ( i like that better than constraint)
Jav is about 1 1/2 now, and while he doesn't have use or function of his arm, he is nery aware that he has a right arm. He trys, just doesn't quite know yet how to make it work or have the strength to do it.

MArlyn

I think that you really must talk to your therapist and your child's other doctors about both E-stim and "Encouragement" therapy. We do e stim regularly, but for our child, restraint would be extremely cruel. Our child has so little use of the affected arm that he would not be able to do ANYTHING for himself. For children that do not have such severe limitations, I think this could be a positive way to make the affected arm stronger and to make them use it more for daily activities. Only you can make the decision, after talking with your childs team of doctors and therapists. Good luck with whatever you decide.

We politely "encouraged". We brought a stuffed animal with us to therapy because teddy wanted to take part in therapy. So the unaffected arm had to hold teddy so that teddy could watch while the affected arm did it's games. It worked out great. Our child followed up with this at home as well.

Marlyn,
I tried to e-mail you but it came back! I totally agree that it is really a decision that has to be made by the parents along with the help of a therapist. I would be more than willing to share our experiences but I am not comfortable doing that on a public board. If you would like to e-mail me that would be great!
Blessings,
Kristie

Kristie - I emailed you back


MArlyn
marlyncma@hotmail.com

Hi,
We use both, e-stim and (we call it) "forced use", my son hates both and still once we get him wrapped with the ace wrap and get his stim in place he's fine. We have seen improvement with his stim, now we do not sleep in it. We use it for 20 minutes 3 times a day. We only do forced use once a day for however long until he manages to wiggle out. It could be 20 minutes , it could be a hour. I do not mind forced use for Carson. He can't eat or drink with his bpi arm but he can play.
You know your child better than anyone, always remember that.
Please feel free to email me with any additional questions.
Good Luck
Jamie and Carson