Girls experience many unique health complications that are not commonly found in boys. For girls who are living with Rett syndrome, the realm of complications that arise from this disorder can lead to abnormal growth and development and issues with pain and mental health complications (Lindberg 198). If your daughter has been diagnosed with Rett syndrome, it is important, as a parent, that you understand not only what the condition is but also what alternative treatments that may be effective.
Hydrotherapy, a unique form of alternative treatment, works to cure the symptoms of many long term and progressive diseases. When coupled with medicated solutions, hydrotherapy works to reduce inflammation, promote blood flow and, in turn, can promote healing. For children with Rett syndrome, very little healing can take place but the benefits of hydrotherapy can suppress the symptoms.
The symptoms most commonly complained about in girls with Rett syndrome is the lack of mobility and function in the muscles, joints, and extremities (Lindberg 35-36). While hydrotherapy cannot cure lack of mobility and function, it can be used as a way to provide your daughter with the freedom to move her body without concern for gravity and normal obstacles that accompany walking or running. In a pool of water, supervised by a parent or a therapist, girls with Rett syndrome find they have more freedom and movement in their body and, as a result, this lifts emotional health.
Beyond freedom of movement, a physical therapist that specializes in hydrotherapy can provide your daughter with simple exercises that can be done in water to boost the muscles and joints. By promoting joint and muscle health, this may provide further advantages to your daughter’s mobility when not in the pool of water. Again, while it cannot cure Rett syndrome, or the extremity complications that accompany this disorder, it can boost muscle function so that further wasting and loss of mobility and function is mitigated.
When caring for a child who has been diagnosed with Rett syndrome, it is important to consider a variety of health treatment options that may not be traditional in nature. With hydrotherapy, many young girls with Rett syndrome find that their physical health, and emotional health, is improved. To acquire optimal health outcomes, attempt to engage your daughter in hydrotherapy twice per week for optimal benefits, but only under the approval of her physician.
Sources: Barbro Lindberg, Understanding Rett Syndrome. Hogrefe, 2006. Print.