Whenever there is a tendency to adopt habitual postures of one part of the body or many parts there is a danger of adaptive shortening of some soft tissues and lengthening of others. In this way, joints may become stiff and give deformities which are very difficult to correct.

The least vulnerable patients are the athetoid's and choreiform types since these patients are rarely still, but the spastic, rigid and flaccid types of the patient may develop severe deformities if left untreated.