Growth Related Conditions
Growth impacts a child’s body in a number of ways and can result in a functional impact on the physical performance of a child with parents often reporting a reduction in co-ordination and skill as well as an increase in growth related injuries.
Some of the most common growth related injuries are traction apophysitis – including knee pain (Osgood-Schlatter or Sinding-Larsen-Johansen) and heel pain (Sever’s disease). Some children also experience general aches and pain often described as “growing pains”, which can have a significant impact on children and their families. Our therapists can provide advice regarding the cause, education of treatment techniques that can be implemented at home and exercise prescription aimed to developing functional strength.
Injury Management
Q Paediatrics can assist in the assessment and treatment of muscle and joint injuries. We understand the impact of growth and development on musculoskeletal injuries and will look at your child’s overall physical profile and how this relates to the injury and provide an age-appropriate rehabilitation.
Spinal Conditions
Q Paediatrics manages the wide range of back conditions seen through development including:
– General back and neck pain
– Acute soft tissue injuries
– Orthopaedic conditions including spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis
– Growth-related spinal pain
– Scoliosis
Management of these conditions involves education in regards to the cause of the condition, the future prognosis and treatment. We strongly believe in the importance of exercise-based therapy and education in the management of spinal conditions in children.
Postural Conditions
Some infants may be born with or develop slight postural anomalies. These may include a flattened head (plagiocephaly), an elongated head (brachicephaly), a turned head (torticollis) or turned feet. Often there are some very simple strategies that can be used to assist normalise these postural conditions. Our physiotherapists will aim to teach you these strategies to use at home to aid in your child’s development.
Postural Education and Development
At Q Paediatrics we see a high number of children presenting with poor postural habits and pain or motor difficulties associated with this.
Our aim is to initially reduce the pain associated with poor postural control and to then educate and strengthen children in regards to their posture.
Strength Training and Sports Conditioning
Over 60% of paediatric injuries occur during organised sport whilst more than 20% occur during physical education classes. It is therefore imperative to ensure safe exercise principles in children. This can include elements such as training load management, using the correct technique and minimising excessive biomechanical load on joints and muscles as well as sports specific strength and conditioning.
At Q Paediatrics our team of physiotherapist and exercise physiologists can screen your child in relation to their chosen sport(s) and identify any areas which may need some development to ensure safe participation, optimal performance and reducing the likelihood of injuries. Individual programs as well as participation in group programs may be utilised to address any concerns.