In this blog from Let’s Grow Pediatrics, we explain five ways physical therapy can help with your child’s development.
What Are Ways Physical Therapy Can Help Your Child’s Development?
Physical therapy can help a child’s physical and emotional development in the following ways:
- Physical therapy helps create a sense of independence in your child.
- Achievement in physical therapy can boost your child’s self-esteem.
- Physical therapy helps your child develop functional mobility skills and gross motor skills.
- Physical therapy can help your child build strength and safely prevent muscle imbalance.
- Children can also build balance, endurance, and a greater sense of coordination through physical therapy.
What Are Gross Motor Skills In Child Development?
Kicking, lifting, throwing, walking, and running are important everyday physical activities that utilize the large muscles in the arms, legs, and torso. The development of these large muscles we use every day is called gross motor skill development. Our gross motor abilities also form the foundation for another set of skills called fine motor skills. This set of skills relates to our strength, balance, reaction speed, and our awareness of our physical bodies.
You can generally expect children to have certain milestones pertaining to gross motor skill development and their age range. For example, a child who is newborn to 2 months old can be expected to turn their head to both sides while laying flat on their back. At 6-8 months, you can anticipate that a child can sit alone without anyone lifting them up. At 9-11 months, a child should be able to walk so long as a family member is holding both of their hands.
What Is Intensive Physical Therapy For Children?
At Let’s Grow Pediatrics, we understand that children with an injury or developmental delay can need additional support. Our experienced pediatric physical therapists work with children and their families in Edmond, Oklahoma to create customized treatment plans that promote movement and function. In a supportive and nurturing environment, we help children achieve their highest level of independence.
Intensive physical therapy helps children progress in their development by repeating gross motor movements, which include daily activities such as sitting, rolling, crawling, walking, and playing. This helps children master those movements to the best of their ability. Together, our pediatric board-certified specialists can help your child identify and reach physical therapy goals. These can include developing your child’s posture, balance, reflexes, strength, and range of motion.
How Can The Universal Exercise Unit Help My Child?
The Universal Exercise Unit (UEU) is a versatile piece of equipment that can be used in multiple ways to help your child reach their functional goals. The UEU consists of a pulley system with suspensions and a spider cage. The spider cage portion of the UEU is a safe body weight support system that decreases the amount of body weight a child must move against gravity when performing functional activities. The pulley system uses weights and pulleys for isolated strengthening of weak muscles so that a child can overcome learned compensations.
The Universal Exercise Unit opens the door to a completely new set of treatments that can efficiently help children achieve maximum function in balance and coordination. One use of the Universal Exercise Unit is for strengthening your child’s muscles. The exercises are performed at low weights and high repetition for muscle strengthening, endurance, isolation, and motor control.
Can My Child Benefit From Intensive Physical Care?
If your child is under 18 years old and has some form of injury or delays in development that is affecting their quality of life, he or she may be a good candidate for intensive physical therapy. To find out more about our treatment options and how your child can benefit from Pediatric Intensive Physical Therapy, reach out to Let’s Grow Pediatrics in Edmond, OK. Call 405-562-3485 to schedule your consultation today.
