When Should Your Baby Crawl? Crawling typically occurs around 9 months of age and is the first sign that your baby is trying to move independently. Babies initially transfer from sitting to creeping on their tummies and then from sitting into a four point kneeling position. Babies need to have good head, neck, shoulder and…
What Parents Need To Know About The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) What Is The NDIS? The NDIS is a fantastic new Government service developed to help families and sufferers of a disability. It is a new organisation and many families are not aware of the significant help that it can potentially provide them.…
Introduction During growth and development children experience change hormonally, cognitively, biologically and physically. This change is rapid and requires the body to adapt and reorganise its response to stimuli. Musculoskeletally, this can result in children experiencing unique conditions during their transition into adulthood. Below is a brief summary of conditions affecting the adolescent foot. Sever’s…
Introduction Paediatric physiotherapy is concerned with the development and health of infants, children and adolescents. It focuses on the reduction of pain and achievement of gross motor milestones in order to aid function and development throughout growth. Paediatric physiotherapy may be potentially required for the following children: Those diagnosed with neurological disorders such as Cerebral palsy,…
Developmental Coordination Disorder Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a disorder that affects a child’s ability to learn and perform age appropriate gross and fine motor skills. DCD occurs in approximately 5-6% of children but is more common in males than females. A child with DCD will appear clumsy or awkward when performing simple motor tasks such…
What is a Scoliosis? Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine in a sideways direction, measuring 10 degrees or more.It can be subdivided into a functional scoliosis which is a flexible spinal curvature caused by modifiable factors such as muscle spasm or leg length discrepancy or a structural scoliosis where the spine has a fixed…
Introduction Plagiocephaly is a flattening of the skull due to a baby having a preference for turning or lying to one side. This can occur due to the baby being packaged tightly in their mother’s womb during pregnancy or throughout the birthing process. A baby with plagiocephaly may demonstrate tight muscles on one side of the…
Introduction Normal growth and development can be varied amongst children. The appearance of a child’s legs and feet compared to their peers is often a concern for parents, particularly if the child is tripping over or appears clumsy. In most cases this is simply the consequence of a postural variation which will correct as the…
Introduction The objective examination is a vital component in the assessment of adolescents and infants with hip pain. The following post outlines key elements in the physical examination to assist clinicians with differential diagnosis. We recommend that you read our previous post the Subjective Examination of Adolescent and Infant Hip to gain a thorough understanding of…
Background Information The morphology of the hip joint from birth to adolescence is a progressive process influenced by load and an individual’s genetic composition (Hogervorst, Boumer, De Boer, & de Vos, 2011) . Variations in normal morphology of the proximal femur and acetabulum in addition to excessive loads can lay the foundations for chondral and…