Orthopedics

Did you know? The US Department of Health and Human Services performed a study based on National Health Interview Survey data from the years 2011-2014 starting with ages 5 and up, and results indicated that there was an estimated 8.6 million sports and recreation-related injuries a year!

65% of those injuries involved children and young adults ages 5-24-years, with the highest injury report observed among the age range of 5-14-year olds! (https://www.apta.org/PTinMotion/News/2017/1/4/SportsInjuries/)

• Ankle or foot malalignment

• Hip dysplasia

• Ligament sprains

• Muscle strains or tears

• Muscle weakness

• Pain

• Scoliosis

• Toe walking

This statistic is important because not only can physical therapists treat a variety of injuries such as ankle sprains, shoulder injuries, or elbow fractures, but here at Pediatric Achievements we can also work on injury prevention!

Our pediatric physical therapists can work on improving your child’s coordination needed for sports, strength, endurance, control, flexibility, and balance. It is important to be equipped in these areas to prevent an injury before it occurs. Other orthopedic conditions that we treat include:

The term “idiopathic” means there is no known cause. We often get referrals for children who walk on their toes, and often the underlying cause is unknown at the time of referral. 

We use an internal protocol to evaluate children with idiopathic toe walking, and this includes a functional vision assessment, full physical therapy evaluation, and a sensory processing assessment. Long-term toe walking can lead to problems with a child’s posture, and both shortened and tight leg muscles. Functionally, this can lead to problems in sports and gross motor skills. 

We like to perform various assessments to at least rule out any possible causes, and if we feel an outside referral is necessary, such as to a developmental optometrist or orthotist, we will discuss this with the family and help them in the process.