El Babinski reflex It is a test that is performed within the first three months of a baby's life. The reaction of the foot is stimulated and it is observed your motor response according to its transmission with the spinal cord. We will discuss how this test is performed and when it is determined if it is worrisome.
This test considered and diagnosed by the reflex of the feet when faced with a stimulus (hand touch). Its response can be decisive within two years of life, but when this type of response is created far beyond the estimated time, it can be considered neurological damage. We will consider in the following lines what happens with the Banbinski reflection.
How is the Babinski reflex diagnosed?
The Babinski reflex is determined with the contact of the hands of a medical specialist on the patient's feet. HE will firmly rub the sole of the foot, where the big toe will move up, or up and back. The rest of the fingers will fan out.
This answer is an innate reflex of children before 2 years of age. After exceeding this age, the foot no longer has this involuntary response, but it will be otherwise. You will no longer adopt the familiar extensor plantar reflex.
This is the Babinski type of move, but it can also create a normal closing stimulus of the toes downwards and towards the inside of the foot. This is normal to observe in healthy adults free of the Babinski reflex.
When the reflection is ambiguous, flexion occurs when you flex to one side, keeping a toe on the opposite side still. This occurs when there is a lesion in the coricospinal tract.
The movement adopted by the foot is completely normal in the face of this type of reflexes, until the child reaches 2 years of age, INCLUDED It may disappear after 12 months. But, beyond this age, it would be necessary to measure whether there is a neurological lesion.
In adults this test is also practiced. Can rubbing a pointed object from the heel along the foot toward the top, over the big toe. In response, it will trigger a flexor or grasping reflex of the toes. If this is not the case and the movement is accompanied by the extension of the big toe and the opening of the other fingers in a fan, It will be a sign of structural damage. or a temporary alteration due to intoxication or epilepsy. In some cases, these foot movements are accompanied by flexion of the hip and knee.
What is the Babinski reflex caused by?
As we have outlined, this type of reflex manifests itself as a normal foot response in infants or children from 12 to 24 months of age. Beyond 24 months it is usually a sign of concern and a medical study must be done to determine if there is neurological damage.
The central system encompasses terms such as the brain and spinal cord. It is necessary to assess whether the patient is within this type of disorder:
- Multiple sclerosis.
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
- Meningitis.
- Brain injury or tumor.
- Stroke.
- An abnormality, tumor, or injury of the spinal cord.
- Neurodegenerative diseases.
What happens if the baby or child under 2 years of age does not have the Babinski reflex?
The absence of this reflex in the baby newborn, during the following months or before he has reached the age of 2, usually indicates a disorder of the nervous system or brain. Some of the possible diseases could be a spinal cord injury, lateral sclerosis, stroke, etc.
What is consistent is that this innate reflex is present for the first 12 to 24 months of life, but as time goes by, this movement disappears when the sole of the foot is massaged or pressed.