What is Pediatric Physical Therapy?
Pediatric physical therapists work with children (ages 0-18) and their families to assist each child in reaching their maximum independence with daily function. This can include dressing, walking/navigating around the home and community, going up/down stairs, participation or return to gym class and reaching their potential in sports related activities. Physical therapists use their expertise in movement and clinical reasoning to come up with a treatment plan to address the child’s needs – whether that is standing up from the floor or throwing a baseball.
At Boston Sports Medicine we treat a variety of diagnoses related to muscles, bones/joints and the nervous system. One of the unique aspects of our Allston location is the aquatic therapy pools and over 1000 square feet of private treatment space. The pools are especially beneficial for early weight bearing when children have restrictions following surgery, strengthening and conditioning, balance exercises and re-educating the nervous system. To utilize the pools, pediatric patients must be at least 4’6” to use the pool platform and 5 feet for the base of the pool (where there is a treadmill). The patient must also be able to independently negotiate 6 stairs to the pool room and 4 steps into/out of the pool.
Over the next few months I will be posting about various pediatric diagnoses and pathologies we see at Boston Sports Medicine and how we treat them both on land or in the pool. Upcoming topics will include: Osgood Schlatters Disease, Severs Disease, Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE) and delayed motor development.
Aisling O’Sullivan Roche, DPT
Boston Sports Medicine
1 Braintree Street
Allston, MA 02134
