Kids Today…
Let’s face it, they are growing up different these days. We know this. If you were born in the 2000’s, you quickly became familiar with a laptop, tablet and ultimately the phone. These digital devices have wreaked havoc on children’s posture among other things (mental wellness, vision health and self esteem). A child that is using hand held digital devices will start to have rounded shoulders and poor posture. This leads to upper body and lower body muscle shortening and in some cases may lead to pain, tension, stiffness in the neck and back and in worse cases migraine-like headaches and ocular headaches (a headache in the eye(s)).
Postural Awareness and Correction with a Physiotherapist
Having a physiotherapist evaluate your child’s posture is the first step in helping them take care of their spine and getting them to be more aware of how they hold their posture. A physiotherapist can teach them simple concepts about how their spine works and how their posture relates to the health of their spine. Children can easily learn simple and effective exercises to help offset bad posture and get rid of any aches and pains.
Other Pediatric Conditions that Physiotherapy can help with:
Knee Pain: In kids 7-12, growth spurts will happen. If this same child is heavily into sports – ie. playing sports 3 or more times a week, they will certainly feel the growth spurt even more. This often leads to knee pain or sometimes Osgoode Schlaters syndrome – an inflammation of the patellar tendon – typically in children that play basketball because there is a lot of jumping.
Foot and Ankle Pain: Kids that tend to sit on their ankles or sit crossed legged can develop stiff ankles that lead to plantar-fasciitis – like pain. Couple this with sports and running around with friends and poor footwear, kids feet and ankles can really cause some pain and stiffness. This may cause trouble with walking or a feeling of tiredness in the feet, ankles and calf muscles.
Post-Surgical Rehab: Kids break bones all the time. A tibial fracture, humeral fracture or even a wrist fracture can happen quite easily just from sports or rough and tumble play in the school yard. Despite what the hospital may recommend, after surgery or fracture, Physiotherapy is a must. Give your child the opportunity to get his mobility to 100%. They are young and have the ability to do this. Physiotherapists will help with this.
How to Support your Child’s Physiotherapy Journey
Pay close attention to the recommendations of the physiotherapist when it comes to your child’s home exercise plan. Learn what the goals are and what the expectations are so you can cheer your child on. Sometimes physiotherapy home programs may take a while to stick so encouraging your child to ‘do their physio at home’ can make a big difference in their recovery.
Final Thoughts
Assuming that your child doesn’t need or will not benefit from physiotherapy because they are ‘too young’ is wrong. Introducing your child to a physiotherapist you trust is just as important as introducing them to a dentist or medial doctor. Children need a trusted health care professional they can rely on to help them with their physical body. Placing importance on their body and how it functions and moves sets the foundation for other health-related matters such as nutrition and active lifestyle and medication overuse.
