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Cerebral Palsy: Medicines to Relax Spastic Muscles
How It Works
These medicines (sometimes called antispasmodics) work in different ways to relax muscles and reduce muscle Reference spasticity Opens New Window and muscle spasms. For example:
- Baclofen blocks signals between the spinal cord and the muscles.
- Reference Botulinum toxin Opens New Window paralyzes the spastic muscle.
- Dantrolene interferes with muscle contraction.
- Diazepam relaxes the brain and body.
The injectable medicines act only on the nerves and muscles surrounding the area where they are injected. Doctors give the injections directly into the affected muscle. The oral (systemic) forms that you take by mouth travel throughout the body before reaching the affected muscles.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: September 20, 2012 |
| Medical Review: | Reference Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics
Reference Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics |
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