Low muscle tone in kids

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain how “low muscle tone” presents in their kid? I’m wondering if this is what I’m seeing in my son, though the doctor has never mentioned it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More meat, fewer carbohydrates, more exercise.

Ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Mine has done OT not PT. He’s probably on the low end of normal range and no one really thinks we need to do intervention. He does swimming and I tell myself that’s good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how “low muscle tone” presents in their kid? I’m wondering if this is what I’m seeing in my son, though the doctor has never mentioned it.

It sounds utterly bizarre to me honestly. How can one gauge contraction/tension when the body is not fully developed?

[Anonymous]

LMT usually presents in infancy. Delay in physical milestones for gross motor. A lot of delayed walking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how “low muscle tone” presents in their kid? I’m wondering if this is what I’m seeing in my son, though the doctor has never mentioned it.

It sounds utterly bizarre to me honestly. How can one gauge contraction/tension when the body is not fully developed?

A physical therapist can assess. Little kids are very strong, or should be.

[Anonymous]

Think of it this way. High muscle tone is spasticity, the rigidity or rigor you see in cerebral palsy. Low muscle tone is the opposite. When you carry a kid with LMT, it’s like carrying a sack of potatoes. They don’t cling on to you or adjust their muscle and weight. It has nothing to do with diet or exercise. It’s the ability of the muscles to respond to stimulation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LMT usually presents in infancy. Delay in physical milestones for gross motor. A lot of delayed walking.

So you would know if your kid had it, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMT usually presents in infancy. Delay in physical milestones for gross motor. A lot of delayed walking.

So you would know if your kid had it, right?

Not necessarily. My son was diagnosed around 8 months. Prior to that I had no idea what low muscle tone was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how “low muscle tone” presents in their kid? I’m wondering if this is what I’m seeing in my son, though the doctor has never mentioned it.

Low muscle tone, as another PP said, is a neurological issue. For my DS (now 18), it presented itself at age 1 when I noticed he would always crawl rather than try to stand and walk. We had him evaluated at Child Find, he was at that point shown to be 3-4 months behind his peers. He crawled until he was 16 months old. But that was just the beginning for him. His low muscle tone started showing up in all of his gross and fine motor skills - i.e., writing, speech articulation, pencil grip, clumsy walking, not athletic at all. At age 6 we had him re-evaluated by the top OT in Montgomery County. His diagnosis went from low muscle tone to Dyspraxia. His learning was also affected, and he was simultaneously diagnosed by a psychologist as having ADHD. It's been a very tough road for him with 16 years of OT and Speech. He's had an IEP since the 1st grade. He's always been in remedial classes, always behind trying to catch up. Not every child with low muscle tone will go the same route as my DS, some fair better others worse. If you suspect something is going on, your DS needs to be evaluated by a developmental pediatrician, then an OT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how “low muscle tone” presents in their kid? I’m wondering if this is what I’m seeing in my son, though the doctor has never mentioned it.

It sounds utterly bizarre to me honestly. How can one gauge contraction/tension when the body is not fully developed?

I assure you it's not "bizarre", nor is it uncommon or rare. There are more children who present with LMT than you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMT usually presents in infancy. Delay in physical milestones for gross motor. A lot of delayed walking.

So you would know if your kid had it, right?

Not necessarily. My son was diagnosed around 8 months. Prior to that I had no idea what low muscle tone was.

Going 8 months without knowing it isn't a long time. My baby started showing LMT when she was about 9 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LMT usually presents in infancy. Delay in physical milestones for gross motor. A lot of delayed walking.

So you would know if your kid had it, right?

Not necessarily. My son was diagnosed around 8 months. Prior to that I had no idea what low muscle tone was.

Going 8 months without knowing it isn't a long time. My baby started showing LMT when she was about 9 months.

I would agree with this statement. For my DS it was around 6 months that noticed something was different, as compared to my DD who started walking and talking very early.

[Anonymous]

what is the difference in services between OT and PT for kid with low muscle tone & weak on core, strength, fine motor skill & gross motor skill ? They seem similar to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain how “low muscle tone” presents in their kid? I’m wondering if this is what I’m seeing in my son, though the doctor has never mentioned it.

It sounds utterly bizarre to me honestly. How can one gauge contraction/tension when the body is not fully developed?

A physical therapist can assess. Little kids are very strong, or should be.

My DS has LMT though they've said it's fairly mild for him. It's been described as being "floppy" as a baby (like carrying a sack of potatoes as someone said). They have trouble sitting as babies and toddlers (sometimes the point to them W sitting because they can't maintain core stability). They slump and have rounded backs (again poor core stability). They may move around a lot because it's difficult to sit still in one position and sometimes teachers think they have ADHD.