Children's physiotherapy

About

Our children’s physiotherapy team is made up of physiotherapists who have completed additional training to specialise in the assessment and treatment of babies, children and young people with movement difficulties. Children are usually referred to this service by health visitors, GPs, paediatricians and orthopaedic consultants.

Conditions and treatments

Movement difficulties in children may be due to a short-term condition or a long-term illness or disability. The types of conditions seen by the service include:

• conditions children are born with, e.g. positional talipes (feet held in an abnormal position)
• acute soft tissue injuries, e.g. muscle and ligament sprains
• rehabilitation following orthopaedic surgery, e.g. fractures, leg-lengthening procedures
• conditions which cause delay to a child's ongoing physical development e.g. cerebral palsy/Down's Syndrome

Our paediatric physiotherapists use a range of approaches that are individually tailored to each child’s needs. This may include exercise programmes, postural management, bespoke orthotics, walking aids and other specialist equipment. Our physiotherapists work in partnership with parents, ensuring that they receive advice and support that enables them to support their child’s condition.

Further online resources

• Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapist
• Change4Life
• Scope
• Steps
• Erbs Palsy Group
• Contact a Family
• Full of Life Charity
• St Quintin Centre
• CanChild: Centre for Childhood Disability Research