WORKING WITH KIDS
We know when it comes to your kids, finding a practitioner you can trust is paramount. Let us earn that trust. I have personally been working with children of all ages from infants to teens to young adults for almost 20 years and I love it. What drives me to work with children is that I have always believed that if you can figure out how to get a child with challenges back into balance, that child gets to just go live his or her life. Life without labels, life without being defined by challenges.
What I do really well is help you get to the bottom of what is going on with your child. We help families with an array of issues including recurrent ear infections, infants with torticollis, reflux or colic, preteens with growing pains, headaches or joint problems, kids with post concussive symptoms, kids with core weakness, kids with poor posture, kids with fatigue, kids that are constipated chronically, kids that wet the bed frequently, or just clumsy kids or moody kids. There is always a reason for a symptom or a behavior and we can help you figure it out through a process of differential diagnosis.
FINDING ANSWERS
As with our adult clients, each child undergoes a detailed evaluation that assesses the child as a whole. The evaluation is how I determine what is causing your child’s symptoms and what is the best way to address them. I may find simple issues like flat feet or mild hip dysplagia or more complex issues like food allergies or head trauma from birth. The more complex your child’s needs, the more likely I am to recommend a team approach that may include occupational therapy, primary care, visual therapies or others. We can make recommendations as needed or work within the team you have already assembled. For example, a 9 year old girl was sent to us by her occupational therapist because the OT noticed one of her legs turned in when she walked. During the evaluation the mother also told me the child was having frequent bladder accidents. I did an evaluation and found a mild hip deformity that the child was born with. The hip problem was causing the leg to turn in and it was also putting pressure on the bladder due to how her muscles and pelvic floor had responded to the hip imbalance. We treated her with manual therapy and exercise to retrain the legs and address the bladder and put shoe orthotics in place to correct for the hip problem. By correcting the problem a great OT spotted this child likely avoided more serious injuries down the road, improved her gait significantly, and the bladder issues were resolved increasing her confidence 10-fold. Now she gets to just be herself.
WHAT’S IN A PLAN?
A treatment plan will always include manual therapy and may additionally include functional training, exercise, orthotics, dietary recommendations and nutritional supplements. We work comprehensively to address your child’s needs as effectively and efficiently as possible. The treatment sessions are 85 minutes inlength and are extremely well tolerated. How long it takes for us to complete the treatment plan is very individual to the findings, the child and the treatment goals.
Why Is Inner Bridges the Right Choice for Your Child?
- Each child is given a comprehensive evaluation
- During the evaluation you will get a chance to tell your child’s story; the whole story
- We listen and care about getting to the bottom of your child’s challenges
- We look at the big picture of what is going on with your child and how it affects your child’s life
- We deliver a detailed treatment plan that focuses on manual therapy, functional re-education, lifestyle changes if needed, and other helpful services to add to the team
- We collaborate care with other members of your child’s team
- We recognize family members as a crucial part of developing each child’s plan of care
- We are goal focused and are always working on measurable outcomes
What Conditions Do We Treat?
Adults and kids alike are more than a diagnosis. Often children come to us with no diagnosis and we are known for our ability to figure out what is happening even when no one else has. If you don’t know what’s causing the problem your child is having or have been told there’s nothing you can do, let us help you figure it out. If you have been given a diagnosis such as on the list below, let us offer you some options you probably haven’t already been given. If your child’s issue isn’t on the list and/or you’re not sure where to turn, contact us and we’ll do our best to help point you in the right direction. We also offer Well Baby and Well Child checks.
• Torticollis & Plagiocephaly
• Clenching & Grinding of the Teeth
• Erb’s Palsy
• Reflux, Colic & Gastricparesis
• Sensory Difficulties (overly sensitive to sound, movement, or touch)
• Balance and Coordination Difficulties
• Fine and Gross Motor Difficulties
• Cognitive and Learning Difficulties
• High or Low Muscle Tone
• Traumatic Injuries & Concussion
• Autism Spectrum Disorders and Asperger’s Syndrome
• Headaches
• Orthopedic and Sports Injuries
• Acute or Chronic Pain
• Motor Planning Difficulties and Developmental Delay
• Infants Who Have Difficulty Breastfeeding
• Enuresis