How Pediatric Therapy Can Help Your Child’s Balance and Gait Disorders
Have you noticed your child has difficulty maintaining balance when playing on the playground? Does your child seem awkward or uncoordinated when walking and/or running? At Skills on the Hill, our pediatric therapists can identify any weakness, restriction, or other limitation affecting your child’s motor skills and help them maximize their abilities!
Gait and balance disorders can significantly impact a child’s physical, social, and emotional well-being. Any limitation in a child’s ability to walk, run, and play will interfere with their ability to stay physically active and play with other kids.
Fortunately, our Skills on the Hill pediatric therapists understand how to help kids with balance and gait disorders improve their function and gain independence!
Call today to request an appointment with one of our pediatric therapists to learn more about our programs for kids with gait and balance disorders!
Common conditions that cause walking and balance difficulties
Gait is the coordinated movement of the legs, feet, and trunk during walking, running, or any other form of locomotion. In contrast, balance is the ability to maintain the body’s center of gravity over the base of support.
Every child will move through their developmental stages at different times. The typical order starts with crawling and progresses to standing, holding onto objects, cruising, and walking. As a child learns to walk, the ability to balance properly will significantly impact how quickly and successfully they can perform this task.
It is important to note that the above stages are general guidelines, and every child may develop at their own pace. It is also important to mention that some children may require extra support and guidance to learn how to walk, run and play with smoothly coordinated patterns.
Balance and walking difficulties are often more noticeable when a child tries to run and play. Difficulties with balance are especially evident on unsteady surfaces such as grass and when changes in directions and/or speed are part of the task.
There are several causes of gait and balance disorders in children, including:
- Congenital conditions (i.e., spina bifida, club foot)
- Neurological disorders (i.e., cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder)
- Musculoskeletal conditions ( i.e., dysplasia of the hip, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease)
Children with these disorders may have difficulty with balance, coordination, and muscle tone, which can lead to problems with walking, running, and other activities of daily living.
Pediatric therapy at Skills on the Hill is a critical component of managing gait and balance disorders in children. Our therapists use a variety of strategies and techniques to assess and treat children with gait and balance disorders and help children reach their full potential!
How pediatric therapy at Skills on the Hill can help
Pediatric therapy is essential to identifying and treating children’s gait and balance disorders. Our therapists will conduct a comprehensive evaluation, including a thorough history, asking parents about developmental milestones, and physical examination.
Our therapists will evaluate your child’s posture, joint movement, stability, muscle strength, balance, and coordination on various surfaces. Additionally, we’ll use multiple strategies and techniques to assess and identify the factors contributing to your child’s gait and balance disorders.
One of the primary goals of therapy for gait and balance disorders in children is to improve their ability to move and function in their daily life. Our Skills on the Hill pediatric therapists use various techniques to accomplish this goal, including exercises to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination and balance training to improve the child’s ability to maintain their center of gravity over the base of support.
We will also use assistive devices such as crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs to help children with gait and balance disorders to move around more efficiently and safely. Additionally, some children may benefit from various manual techniques such as soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, and neuromuscular re-education to improve muscle tone, flexibility, and coordination.
Finally, our team will give you instructions on encouraging and guiding your child’s skill development at home and in community settings. The goal of therapy is to achieve great results for your child while making therapy a fun, playful, and engaging activity.
Call today to request an appointment!
Children with gait and balance can reach their highest potential with pediatric therapy at Skills on the Hill in Washington, DC, and/or Arlington, VA. Call today to request an appointment with one of our specialists!
Sources:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13047-020-0378-2
https://www.pjmhsonline.com/index.php/pjmhs/article/view/3263
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0387760422001905
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12325-019-01024-2