What is it?

Hypotonia is a symptom characterized by poor muscle tone and is usually diagnosed at birth or during infancy. In babies, hypotonia is detected if the baby does not flex his knees and elbows, does not have good control of his head, and has a developmental delay in gross or fine motor skills. At any age, signs of hypotonia may include a decrease in muscle tone and in strength, hyper flexibility, speech difficulties, impaired posture and poor reflexes. Hypotonia may be caused due to many neurological conditions and the underlying cause is not always diagnosed. Hypotonia may be due to cerebral palsy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy during birth, muscular dystrophy, and genetic syndromes such as Trisomy 21 or 13. Hypotonia may require long term treatment with physical, speech and occupational therapy.