Why Is Physiotherapy Important for Kids?
Teenagers and upper primary school-aged children can experience pain and growing issues that require Physiotherapy. Our team of Physiotherapists are skilled in helping teenagers with their sport, activities, and poor posture throughout their developing years.
Teenagers who play sports often have busy schedules in several sports they are involved in, leading a very active life. It’s not uncommon for teenagers to over-train, strain or injure themselves during games and training.
As teenagers and children’s bodies are still growing they need to have time to recover. Coaches and parents alike often push children and teenagers to excel in their sport. However, sometimes with hard work, their bodies are pushed beyond their limits. Due to this, teenagers can develop overuse injuries from repetitive activity or even repetitive inactivity.
What if my child doesn’t play sports?
You may not have a sporty teenager, but rather one who prefers to be playing computer games or scrolling through their phones. These types of sedentary activities are often related to poor posture.
These teenagers are suffering from repetitive inactivity and can develop muscle imbalances. These imbalances cause posture pain and sore tight muscles and inflammatory issues, but physiotherapy can help address them. Simply getting up and moving out of these positions will not be enough to reverse the postural imbalances that are developing.
Muscle imbalances and poor posture in teenagers are now more often caused by inactivity, than activity. Poor posture can cause headaches and lethargy, often leading to more inactivity. It is important for muscle imbalances to be addressed and poor posture corrected.
City Physio answers the question- when does your teenager need physiotherapy? If you have pain it is important to be assessed by a physiotherapist as soon as it presents. Reporting it early will help to avoid further injuries before they worsen.
There are many common injuries specific to teenagers:
- Achilles Tendonitis Tendinopathy – pain at the back of the ankle and abnormal strain to the inner aspect of the Achilles tendon. This is due to excessive rolling in of the foot.
- Anterior Ankle Impingement – pain at the front of the ankle joint.
- Knee Bursitis – inflammation in the bursa inside the knee and around the knee.
- Femoral-acetabular impingement – pain at the front of the hip.
- Gluteal Tendinopathy – is a common cause of pain at the side of the hip.
- Greater Trochanteric Hip Pain Syndrome – causes pain at the side of the hip.
- High Ankle Sprain – sprain of the joint that connects the tibia and fibula bones together in the lower leg.
- Hip Labral tear – damage to the cartilage surrounding the hip joint.
- Iliotibial Friction Band Syndrome – commonly called runners knee – pain at the outer side of your knee joint.
- Tibialis posterior tendinopathy – excessive load on this arch stabilising muscle.
- Plantar fasciitis – excessive load on the plantar fascia supporting the arch of the foot.
- Shin Splints – excessive foot rolling causes your lower leg muscles to apply altered force to the tibia bone.
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome – Poor ankle movement prevents the normal track of the kneecap resulting in pain at the front of the knee.
- Plica Syndrome – synovial membrane on the inner knee that flicks over the medial epicondyle of the tibial bone.
- Posterior Ankle Impingement – pain at the back of the ankle, common in ballet dancers, gymnasts, and footballer players.
- Retro-calcaneal bursitis – inflammation of the bursa at the back of the ankle.
- Severs Disease – inflammation of the growth plate in the heel of children and teenagers.
- Spondylolysis – stress fracture of the lumbar spine.
- Sprained Ankle – over-stretching of ankle ligaments commonly after rolling your ankle.
- Stress Fractures of the foot – compression of the Tibial Nerve as it travels through the Tarsal Tunnel in your foot.
- Hypermobility.
- Compartment Syndrome – excessive blood pressure within the arm or leg after an injury or direct trauma.
- Growth-related pain often occurs at the hip, knee, or ankle joints and can cause pain with sports or movement. City Physio’s Physiotherapists are highly qualified at identifying teenagers’ specific issues. They will be able to provide the correct treatment and rehabilitation and will refer for appropriate scans.
Teenage Strength and Conditioning & Lifting Weights
More and more teenagers are going to the gym or lifting weights at home without professional supervision or proper lifting techniques. Most injuries relating to lifting weights, including epiphyseal plate fractures and lower back injuries, are related to misuse of equipment. Misuses come from lifting weights that are too heavy, improper form or lack of supervision.
Our Physiotherapists are experts in strength training and can teach your teenagers proper exercises and lifting techniques. They will assist with the course of their exercises to avoid injury, and to get the most out of your training.
