Dr. Mandy Kirk has years of experience treating hundreds of pediatric patients. Pediatric physical therapy is often play-based, however written home exercise programs are given to continue to work on deficits that are noted. In infants this may include positioning and achieving motor milestones, whereas in older children it can involve gross motor skills, strengthening and stretching, coordination, and gait (walking) activities. Each child is unique and will be treated this way during assessment and treatments.
Some of the most common diagnoses seen include:
Neck tightness found in babies and toddlers that creates a rotation in the head, with a slight tilt to the opposite side. Often times this creates flatness on the back of the head. This is easily treatable with physical therapy if caught early enough!
This can be a serious concern when children consistently walk on their toes and don’t achieve heel contact. It can lead to poor balance as well as other foot and leg issues. Often times toe walking is believed to be something that children outgrow, however it can lead to further complications.
A disorder that can consist of difficulty controlling movement – it often involves poor strength, coordination, balance, and tight muscles. Muscle tone is often affected. There are varying degrees of severity of cerebral palsy and it can present many different ways, but physical therapy is often necessary to improve general mobility.
When a child is injured playing a sport, it is important to immediately build up strength and perform modified activities in order to allow that child to return to sport sooner and prevent future re-injury.
– Trisomy 13
– Muscular Dystrophy
– Down’s Syndrome
– Arthrogyposis
– And many others!
A physical therapist can assist with gross motor delays associated with these diagnoses.
Learning the exercise can save you a trip to the physical therapist depending on severity.