To begin massage manipulation in the cerebral palsy rat model, first, set the desired forces for pressing and rubbing. After hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy induction, on the second day, carefully remove the young massage group rats from the cage with minimal disturbance to the maternal rats. Before massage, warm up hands by rubbing them slightly to match the skin temperature of the young rats.
Position the young rat comfortably within the palm of the left hand. Gently stroke the rat's back from head to tail with the threaded surface of four fingers for one minute to quiet it. Then, rub the abdomen of the right thumb and forefinger back and forth.
Massage the forelimb from the proximal to the distal end for approximately 30 seconds. Apply pressure on the Quchi, Waiguan, and Hegu points 10 times for 1 second each. Next, rub the hind legs starting with the proximal to the distal end for approximately 30 seconds.
Press Yanglingquan, Zusanli, Sanyinjiao and Taichong points 10 times for 1 second each lasting approximately 5 minutes in total. Then using the right thumb, press on Zhongwan, Tianshu, Guanyuan 10 times for approximately 1 second each with the entire process lasting 1 minute. Now hold the young rat in a prone position and apply pressure using the right thumb on the Zhongwan point located on the abdomen.
Keep the navel of the rat as the center and rotate the thumb 120 times per minute for about five minutes in a clockwise direction. Using the right hands, four fingers, gently stroke the rat from its head to its tail, using the thread like surface to calm it down. Once calm, place the young rat back in the cage and allow the mother to feed it After a span of 2 weeks to 40 days, administer regular rat massage therapy to all the acu points shown earlier.
Next, weigh the young rats daily from day 7 to day 40. Place each young rat on the balance beam, directing it towards a black box at the opposite end. Conduct balance beam training for the subject on days 37 to 39, 3 times daily, and a concluding test on day 40.
Record the time it takes for each rat to cross the balance beam and the frequency of hind limb slips. After ischemia and hypoxia modeling, the growth rate of body weight in the model group decreased significantly. Massage therapy significantly improved it suggesting that massage improves the growth and development of young rats with cerebral palsy.
The balance beam test results showed that the model group took longer to cross the beam than the sham and massage groups. In contrast, the number of hind limb slips significantly decreased in the massage group compared with the model group.
