For children with injuries and/or ongoing medical issues, physical therapy can help optimize their physical abilities and minimize their limitations. This helps these children to achieve their full potential at home, school, and within the community. Today, parents have more options on where to conduct the therapy. They can bring their kids to a hospital or clinic, or they can choose mobile physical therapy.
How Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthens Children: Physical therapists focus on improving the child’s balance, coordination, strength, range of motion, and motor function. This can be done in fun and creative ways that keep the child engaged and motivated to do the exercises.
Physical therapy can be used as a treatment for several pediatric conditions, including but not limited to:
- Developmental Delays
- Walking Abnormalities
- Muscular Torticollis
- Cerebral Palsy
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Spina Bifida
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Autism
- Down Syndrome
- Cardiopulmonary Disorders
- Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Sports Injuries (e.g., fractures and surgeries)
The therapist develops a customized exercise program designed to fully address the child’s deficiencies and achieve maximum physical potential. The exercises tend to build on each other, and maintaining momentum is critical for success. This is why it is very important to keep missed appointments to a bare minimum.
The Benefits of Mobile Physical Therapy in Pediatric Care: Mobile pediatric therapy is growing in popularity for several reasons. These include:
Convenience: Conducting physical therapy at home is the most convenient option for parents and their children. There is no need to get the child ready and take them to appointments; instead, all you have to do is have them ready when the therapist arrives at your home. This saves you money on travel costs, and several hours a week going to and from the clinic. Most importantly, it significantly reduces the reasons to miss an appointment, which puts your child in the best possible position for success.
Flexibility: Scheduling appointments around the available times in the clinic can be a pain. Most often, this means having to move your schedule around to accommodate what they have available. With mobile physical therapy, scheduling is much more flexible. Most often, the home health agency is able to arrange for the therapist to come out at a time that is most convenient for you.
Individualized Care: Pediatric physical therapy in a clinic often involves therapists bouncing back and forth among several kids who have appointments. With mobile therapy, your child receives the one-on-one care he/she needs and deserves. In addition, the child is able to get to know the therapist and bond with them in a safe and comfortable atmosphere.
Creative Potential: Mobile physical therapy allows the therapist to fully assess the home environment of the child and work within that environment to develop a more creative exercise regimen. The therapist is able to recommend various enhancements to make the environment safer and easier to perform the exercises. They can also evaluate, in real time, what exercises are most effective and which ones might need some modification. This has the potential to greatly accelerate the progress of the treatment plan.