| Services - Physical Therapy
Pediatric physical therapy is provided for infants through adolescents to assess and treat motor and functional limitations caused by neurological or orthopedic impairments. A child might benefit from one or two physical therapy sessions or many sessions over months or years. The parent usually accompanies the child with the therapist on his first evaluation visit; in ensuing visits the parent usually waits in the waiting room for 45 minutes while the child works with the therapist. The last few minutes of session are reserved for the therapist and parent to discuss the visit and the progress that the child is making, as well as to review home exercise and programs.. During the sessions, the therapist teaches and assists the child in exercises and activities that can strengthen and stretch muscles and teach the child different or more functional ways of getting around. Kids learn by playing, so the offices and gym at Milestones are filled with toys for kids to use. The PTs at Milestones use a treadmill, swings, steps, benches, balls, music, and age appropriate games and manipulatives to engage children in play and motivate them to move. Kids can have fun during these therapy sessions, though it can be a lot of hard work to make muscles stronger and learn to do new things.
Questions About Physical Therapy
How does the Physical therapist help my child?
Physical Therapists at Milestones use a variety of techniques and methods with children to facilitate movement, depending on the child’s needs and characteristics. Pediatric physical therapists help to ensure that your child's physical performance in every day activities is at its best. Activities in the form of directed play are provided to help your child be better motivated to reach goals. Some children need help learning to catch, throw or kick a ball, skip, gallop or hop and jump. Physical Therapists use techniques such as sensory-motor activities (sometimes called sensory integration techniques), Neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT), manual techniques such as stretching and myofascial release and many other research and theory based methods to devise therapeutic activities. Pediatric PTs have trained in all stages of child development; they are highly qualified to address the special needs of children from birth through adolescence. Working with children every day, PT's and OT's are experts when it comes to motivating and challenging your child to improve his/her functional abilities. As your child progresses, your therapist will also teach you, as a parent, what to expect and how you can help your child at home.
What will happen at my child’s first visit?
Treating your child includes examining, evaluating, and assessing the areas in which your child may have challenges and then incorporating activities to address these areas. After discussing your concerns about your child, the therapist will examine and evaluate your child using any combination of standardized tests, observations, and clinical experience. Your therapist will discuss her assessment of the findings with you and review her recommendations for therapy, including the number of visits, frequency, duration of physical therapy, prognosis, and home activities you must do with your child to help to improve his physical challenges. If therapy is recommended, your therapist will create an individualized program specific to your child's goals and the family's goals.
What are some examples of diagnosis that children may have who come to Milestones for PT?
Some examples of diagnoses a child might have who receives Physical Therapy intervention are diagnoses such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy or spina bifida. But any child, with or without a diagnosis who has problems moving, walking or performing gross motor tasks might be a candidate for PT.
A broken ankle is a good example of why a child might go to Physical Therapy. The therapist might teach the child how to use crutches, go up and down steps with crutches, and how to manage the obstacles at home and school on crutches. The therapist would show the family exercises to do at home to keep the child’s knee and hip strong while the ankle heals.
A baby who has not learned to roll at 6-7 months is another example of child who might come for Physical Therapy. The child would be taken through the sequence of rolling beginning with moderate to maximum assistance and decreasing assistance as the child learns the skill. This would help the child gain sensory or movement information, gradually allowing him to take in and process the movement experience and gain more skills. Some children have a very tight neck with limited motion, and a flattened head (often called torticollis); therapists and families work together to stretch the neck and round the child’s head as he/she grows.
Toddlers and preschoolers are sometimes delayed in their development and are not able to do the some motor skills such as jump, hop and run as well as their same aged peers. If your toddler is struggling to keep up with other children his same age, he/she might benefit from a physical therapy evaluation. This incoordination and difficulty with throwing, kicking and running skills impact social and maturational development. In Physical Therapy, these motor tasks are practiced and refined to assist that child in gaining skills that are expected at that age.
I think my child might benefit from coming to Physical Therapy. How can we get started?
Frequently a parent and pediatrician discuss a child’s needs and the physician refers the child for therapy. Sometimes the parent has identified the need and wants as much information as possible about the child’s abilities, so self initiates a therapy evaluation. Either way, a PT can examine and evaluate you child by arranging an evaluation appointment. A Physical therapist can initially examine and evaluate you child without a physician’s referral, but if PT intervention is recommended, we must obtain a referral from your child’s pediatrician or other physician that is caring for your child. Not only is this part of the practice rules for PTs, it is sometimes required by insurance companies for reimbursement and most importantly to insure that your therapist is aware of any precautions or contraindications and to keep the child’s pediatrician abreast about his/her progress.
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