Astrocytoma Brain Tumors in Children: Why Occupational Therapy is Vital

Brain tumors, of any type, can be frightening and cause severe debilitation in the person who suffers from them. If you are the parent of a child who has been diagnosed with the complications associated with astrocytoma brain tumors, it is important to become familiar with not only the health condition and how it will be treated, but also how the condition can adversely affect mobility and quality of life.

Mobility is a vital part of our well being and helps to ensure that we have a long life. In children suffering from the presence of a brain tumor, mobility can be adversely affected and, in turn, this can lead to a decrease in physical activity and secondary health complications to arise. The occupational rehabilitation team can work with your child and even address how to manage complications like the eye flutter in absence seizure as part of an overall physical fitness program.

While we may not think of physical fitness as a crucial part of a child's recovery from an astrocytoma brain tumor, the fact is that it will help with continued physical movement and work to minimize any secondary depressive symptoms that can develop should the child be left with limited range of motion in the limbs. Because this type of brain tumor is considered to be malignant along the neurons in the brain, your child's neurological health will be impaired: the primary reason an occupational therapist is needed.

Setting up your child's healthcare team for this type of brain tumor will include, undoubtedly, a primary care pediatrician as well as an oncologist. But, in addition, be sure that your child has access to an occupational therapist that will provide passive and active range of motion therapy during the course of treatment. In the long term, it will help your child to manage any physical impairment that may arise from this type of brain tumor.

Like many children who suffer from complications involving brain tumors, the child who has astrocytoma brain tumors will often experience debilitation to the extent that mobility and quality of life is adversely affected. Be sure to address these issues with your child's doctor and work to obtain occupational therapy services while your child is undergoing brain tumor treatment.

Sources: Tumors of the Central Nervous System, by M.A. Hayat