Constipation is a common problem in infants with DS. The suspected reason is low tone in the abdominal region. While breastfed babies rarely experience constipation, sometimes the foods the mother eats can cause some problems in the gut of the baby. When we made the transition from breastmilk to solids, we saw some slowing of our daughter’s digestion. Along the way we have collected remedies to help bring relief to the baby. Here is my list of things that will help move the bowels.
Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for category All Ages
While Physical Therapy may be familiar to parents, working with kids in a pediatric setting requires some tweaking of the way PT’s provide service. Because children won’t see the benefit in the work they’re doing or how it may help them down the road, therapy typically needs to be woven into positioning and play activities. For each therapist-child relationship, finding the right balance of motivation is crucial, as children need to be pushed in order to make progress, but will shut-down if pressed too hard.
Active parent involvement is critical, as parents spend the most time with their children, know them best, and are not strangers who are making their child do something that may feel uncomfortable! Being consistent with therapeutic recommendations at home helps children improve, and there are few situations when PT sessions alone are sufficient to create a lasting change. Physical Therapy is a piece of the therapeutic puzzle, not typically a curative treatment.
During a PT session, the therapist provides skilled handling with a desired outcome and monitors how this affects the child. From these observations, recommendations will be made to the parents for their child’s home routine, as the child needs daily follow-through in order to achieve functional gains. Establishing a regular routine is beneficial, as this will help the child feel comfortable with what is being asked of them, and also assist parents in fitting the activities and exercises into an already demanding schedule.
A good relationship between the therapist and parents is key, as the therapist will help parents understand the purpose of a particular activity and its desired effect, while the parents can help the therapist better grasp their child’s personality and environment outside of therapy. Parents are encouraged to be involved in setting therapy goals, as the likelihood of success increases when goals are appropriate and meaningful.
Neil Goyal MS, PT
Children with Down Syndrome often benefit from pediatric Physical Therapy. Some common impairments seen in Down Syndrome which are relevant to PT include low muscle tone (hypotonia), joint hypermobility, low muscle force production, delayed balance reactions, cardiopulmonary issues, vision and hearing deficits, and instability of the atlanto-axial joint (signs of dislocation or subluxation may include changes in sensation, muscle strength, and range of motion). The above impairments commonly lead to gross motor developmental delays. A PT’s main goals when working with a child with DS are to facilitate gross motor development, often through positioning and the introduction of normal movement patterns, and to increase strength and stability of the body’s musculoskeletal system.
Neil Goyal MS, PT
Osteopathic medicine relies on the principle that body structure and function are in a dynamic relationship with each other. They influence and affect one another. There is an old axiom about “form follows function” but in osteopathy, “function follows form.”
Let’s look at some of the genetic issues surrounding DS where structure is affected and consequently function, then at how manipulative treatments can help a child. Keep in mind, not all children with DS have these issues, but they often have one or more.