What is Pediatric Physical Therapy?

Pediatric physical therapy is fun! We strategically integrate our exercises into games and activities that are fun and exciting for your child, all while specifically targeting your child’s individual goals. This could look very different depending on each individual child.

Common Benefits of Pediatric Physical Therapy

-Improved Strength: Believe it or not, our kiddos are lazy! They tend to figure out the best ways to get the most bang for their buck, while exerting the least energy possible. Physical therapists can determine where your child is exhibiting areas of weakness and work towards improving their strength and movement patterns.

-Range of Motion: (ROM for short) Does your child walk on their toes? Although this can be cute at first, if allowed to continue for long periods of time, children can develop muscle tightness in their ankles. Physical Therapists can work with your child to stretch and lengthen the muscles around the ankles (and other joints) to improve their range of motion.

-Balance: Sometimes, staying upright is hard! Physical therapists can develop specific and individualized exercises that will help to improve your child’s balance, equilibrium, and postural control.

-Posture: Proper positioning is crucial for everyone, regardless of age. Physical therapists can help develop exercises that specifically target your child’s postural muscles.

-Tone: Muscle tone is the muscle’s natural resistance at rest. Increased tone is characterized as increased stiffness while decreased tone is characterized as floppiness. Physical therapists are trained to identify the amount of muscle tone present and develop treatment interventions that are designed to improve your child’s muscle tone and overall function.

-Gait: Gait is fancy term for “walking.” Does your child seem to walk funny? This can be the result of several factors. However, physical therapists are trained to analyze your child’s gait pattern and develop treatment interventions that will improve their overall mechanics and independence.

Should My Child Be Receiving Physical Therapy Services?

As a parent, you are your child’s primary advocate. If you notice changes in your child’s mobility, strength, ROM, or other abnormal presentations, we recommend speaking with your child’s pediatrician. Physical therapy may just be the best treatment for your child!

Your child may benefit from skilled physical therapy if:

• They have suffered an injury affecting their prior level of function.
• They are demonstrating delays meeting their age-appropriate developmental milestones.
• Rolling
• Sitting
• Standing
• Walking
• They fall or trip often
• They are having difficulty keeping up with peers while playing
• Difficultly running, jumping, hopping, skipping
• They prefer to walk on their toes
• They prefer to look towards one direction more so than the other

(This is not an exhaustive list! If you notice something new and/or abnormal, always trust your gut and speak with your pediatrician)

Common Diagnoses Treated by Pediatric Physical Therapists

• Developmental Delay
• Torticollis
• Down Syndrome
• Hypotonia/Hypertonia
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Spinal Muscular Atrophy
• Prematurity
• Spina Bifida
• Gross motor delays/incoordination
• Abnormal gait patterns
• Orthotic concerns
• Wide range of neurological/genetic conditions

If you have a child whom you believe could benefit or have questions about therapy for a child you know please contact us and we can send you in the right direction.