United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My daughter, 3 1/2, falls a lot. I believe it is because she walks on her toes and only puts her heels down when I remind her. Her therapist thinks that she is also flat footed. She tends to run more than walk. I am convinced that the injury contributes to this falling problem. I have been told that because her center of gravity is off, she is less comfortable walking than running because when she is walking she has to balance herself. Any other BPI children out there falling a lot? I would appreciate any thoughts on this subject. Thank you.
Michele from NJ

You might want to also post this on the general board as that is where most of the parents hang out. Most of us here are adults with the injury, but we can sure share our experience.

I have always had balance issues (I am 48 LOBPI). The most severe fall came last summer when I put forth the unaffected arm to break my fall and I broke that hand. That was not fun and it also caused some consternation in the ER because they did not believe I could trip over nothing, and assumed I was a victim of domestic violence. It took some convincing to prove otherwise, besides the fact that my husband was 3000 miles away at the time!

In my case, the balance issues are complicated by the Horner's and by the amblyopia (lazy eye) which I also have on the affected side. I have no depth perception (from the amblyopia) which is why I trip over nothing and also walk into walls. It doesn't happen all the time, once or twice a day I guess I lose my balance.
Make sure you have her vision checked because if she also has amblyopia, it can be corrected if caught early.
Nancy

I have an appointment with an opthamologist in a couple of weeks for third cranial nerver palsy. I'm going to have him check for Horners at that time. I've always noticed that my glasses were lopsided, have always misjudged distance- i.e. falling off a step-running into a wall with my arm because I didn't allow enough space. Now I guess I'll have to look at old pictures. I've been having a lot of ocular migraines and double vision. I also discovered that to look at certain designs will instantly reproduce double vision and a really weird -almost seizure feeling. Took my granddaughter to McDonalds and they have a black and white diagonal checked wall. Instantly, I felt like I was swirling and my vision doubled.
I think a lot of us trip because we are nt balanced on both sides. The BPI side is smaller than the other. Pat

Michaela is 5 and I also was told the reason for her falling is the BPI causes their center of gravity to be off. What's worse to me is she lacks the natural reflex to catch herself on her left(BPI) side so her arm winds up in a wierd position and she usually lands on her face. Some things you just deal with. I keep knee and elbow bandaids in stock all the time and we jokingly call her GRACE.LOL LeeAnne

We take Matthew to the chiropractor to help with balance issues. He just turned a year old but there were noticable differences when we started.
Cindy

Maia has weakness on her affected side that affect her hip, leg and foot. She's been falling ever since she started to walk - sometimes so much that she would fall more than walk. A PT who is a bpi specialist saw us and said that Maia needed orthotics.

An orthotist took casts of her feet and produced small orthotics that she wears in her shoes. They are called UCBL's. (they were invented at University of California - Berkely) As soon as she got them she stopped falling immediately. It was explained to me that it's best to do this type of orthotic when they are very young - so that as the structure grows - it grows in a more balanced position.

She had a sore on her foot and I thought it was from the orthotic - so I removed them from her shoes to give her foot a rest. She began falling again. (The orthotist said it might take a couple of years.)

Maia has received chiropractic throughout but it never helped her falling. Low tone is a different issue than eye issues or vestibular issues that may also be caused by the injury. Maia definitely has issues in her lower structure.

-francine

Hi Michelle, Your daughter sounds just like my daughter at that age! She always walked around on her toes, and she is alittle flat footed too - I'm very flat footed. My daughter is 10 now. Brittney had worn arch supports when she was four or five but for us it didn't help much. Not only did she walk on her toes everywhere but she also always stuck her stomach way forward (back arched) and we found out she had a slight scoliosis. When her therapist started her doing stomach exercises to help her low muscle tone in her stomach we noticed that she didn't walk on her toes nearly as much and her scoliosis was improving. It seems like she five or six before she stopped walking on her toes. In my opinion she walked on her toes to help herself balance and as her muscles became stronger, she also got more coordinated and began to walk normally. I've noticed that my non-BPI younger daughter also walked on her toes for a while when she was learning coordination. When you see a toddler learning to walk - they seem to spend alot of time on their toes until they've mastered the balance part - and in an injured child's life this balance will take longer. Brittney has always been in a hurry. I was noticing lately how she skips everywhere she goes! She skips, runs into walls, and trips alot - landing face down - but can bounce back up in a second and say, "I'm OK!"

Also, Brittney had taken dance classes, gymnastics, t-ball, when she was younger and all of those experiences I think helped her balance. But, even now that Brittney is 10 she still falls so much! I've noticed though that when she is active in swimming, soccer, just some sort of activity - her balance improves during that time. As your daughter grows and gains muscle strength she will not need to walk/balance on her toes as much, and any type of activity that teaches balance might be helpful for her. I hope this helps! When I read your post you reminded me of part of Brittney's childhood that I hadn't thought about in a while - the walking on her tip toes everywhere part! Christy

Left obpi 54 years

I share many of Pat's problems. They seem to get worse the older I get. At times you just stand there and think "now how in the world did I run into that or gee, I don't see what I tripped over." I tripped over my grand daughter's gym bag straps (they were not really in my way) and of course I fell. I tried to break my fall with the obpi arm (without thinking) and fell on my right and broke my arm. I had no arms to use for a few weeks. You never realize what you do have until you lose it. I try to be a little more careful now, but those walls and doorways seem to move on their own. LOL We all have a balance issue of some kind and I don't believe there are any solutions except to watch where you are going. HA HA Sharon

I really don’t think it is a matter of balance but a matter of body boundary.
I never seem to perceive that anyone is next to me or that I am so close to a wall.
Could it be part of depth perception? Or is it body boundary? I often wonder about this. I have good depth perception when walking straight ahead or making left turns but not on the right obpi side. On the right obpi side the dam walls pop out- the door knobs just kill me ( I am short 5’3”) . I also don’t want to leave out the poor folks standing to my right they always get poked with that elbow I am not aware that anyone is next to me… even my own kids ( hmmm perhaps that’s a good thing). All kidding aside it is another issue to be faced by all of us who have lived with this birth injury without proper medical attention. It seems like nothing concerning this injury has truly been investigated. No one seems to know the full effects on the immature body of a baby who is growing and living with this injury
How can a child be checked to see if there is a loss of feeling or a lack of depth perception if that is the way we always were? I also wonder how they can check when the medical field seems to ignore the fact that a newborn is in pain with this injury
Kath

I used WORD to correct the spelling.... but got the ???????? marks in the wrong place....

I forgot to preview.... just thought I would mention it......grrrrrrrr
Kath