We may relate physical therapy as an adult-only option but that’s absolutely not the case. Our children get injured and benefit from these remedies as well, especially when they’re athletes and their bodies are growing at such a fast rate.
It’s important to realize, as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta stated, “whether the cause is playing their favorite sport, or simply playing outside with friends, children bones, muscles, and joints require special, personalized care when they suffer an injury.”
Benefits of Physical Therapy in Injury Recovery
South University explains, “Coping with sports injuries often requires physical rehabilitation. Physical therapy helps people rebuild strength and movement in parts of their body after an injury. Therapy can also help someone manage pain and prevent permanent damage and recurring problems.”
There are a plethora of benefits when it comes to physical therapy and how it helps in one’s injury recovery. In fact, there are 10 ways according to LVHN.org including:
- Reduce or eliminate pain
- Avoid surgery
- Improve your mobility
- Recover from a stroke
- Recover from or prevent a sports injury
- Improve your balance and prevent falls
- Manage diabetes and vascular conditions
- Manage age-related issues
- Manage heart and lung disease
- Help your child manage a medical condition, injury or movement problem
Injuries in Children
Just like adults, injuries can happen in children that make physical therapy a great benefit to them. Whether it’s broken bone that requires some extra time to regain its mobility or an ACL tear that also needs time to regain strength, these techniques and the professional guidance help in the care once the injury is ready to rebuild.
When the injuries happen specifically in children, you may want to think about taking them to a specialized physical therapist – a pediatric physician physical therapist to be exact. These caregivers have more knowledge in a child’s growing body.
For example, their growth plates are still open and if not diagnosed properly can result in a lifelong issue for the child. Regular PTs are trained in this area but don’t work with children near as much. In fact, according to CHOA.org, kids only make up 5-10% of their clientele. Whereas, pediatric physician physical therapists are working with children around the clock.
Because of this specialized care, you could end up with lower medical bills, fewer visits, and a better plan for long-term prevention. This space is tailored to your child. It’s something to think about when planning on your next step in injury recovery for your young athlete.
Example Recovery Exercises
If you’ve never taken part in physical therapy before and have questions on what’s actually done during an appointment, here are some exercise examples that are used in a lot of patients’ treatment plans, brought to us by WebMD & Physical Therapy Notes.
Manual
Manual therapy includes treatment performed mostly with the hands in hopes to decrease one’s pain and provide some loosening and relaxation. Massage, mobilization, and manipulation all fall under this “manual therapy” umbrella helping to increase joint range, warm up tight tissues, as well as increase circulation and flexibility.
Cold & Heat Therapy
Patients will probably experience some cold and/or ice therapy while in physical therapy. At the very least they will be educated on how to treat themselves at home with what they need.
Ice will help to reduce swelling, inflammation, and lessen any acute pain that one may have. And then heat will help to loosen up and relax muscles or tight tissue by increasing its blood flow.
Flexibility Exercises
These type of exercises helps to increase one’s mobility and flexibility throughout their injury recovery. They’re done at the office and therapists usually give their patients a plan on how and what to do at home to keep up the remedy. Visit here to take a peek at some examples of shoulder stretching/flexibility exercises. Staying limber is important, and while the young can often bounce back from an injury, proper flexibility training/conditioning is an important habit to establish young!
