How To Help Your Child Get Through Physical Therapy

Health & Medical Blog

If you have children, chances are excellent that you have witnessed at least one of them hurting themselves. Sometimes these injuries are minor, such as a scrape or a scratch. Sometimes they're more serious, such as a broken arm. Sometimes, they're serious enough to require physical therapy in order to heal, such as a fractured elbow or knee. If your child sustains one of the latter injuries, he or she is going to need your support in order to get through physical therapy and regain his or her full range of motion.

1. Do Exercises With Your Child

If your child is young, chances are good that he or she is not going to see the benefit of physical therapy. If he or she had a fractured elbow and now his or her elbow moves well enough and doesn't hurt, your child might think that he or she is good to go. As a parent, you will know the importance of making sure that the full range of motion is regained. One of the most important things that your child can do is do the exercises assigned to him or her when he or she is not in the appointment. To help your child stay motivated, consider making the exercises a family affair. Do the exercises with your child and make sure that he or she is in control of the practice session: that he or she determines how fast you should go and what your form should look like. This will give your child a taste of being a physical therapist. Consider watching you and your child's favorite TV show as further motivation during the exercises.

2. Keep Your Child Involved

It can be especially difficult if your child was injured while he or she was playing a sport during the season or right before the season. Your child might feel that it's hard to stay connected with his or her friends if he or she isn't able to play. Make sure that your child is able to go to all of the games, regardless of whether or not he or she can play. Talk to the coach. He or she will almost certainly allow your child to sit on the bench in uniform and cheer the team on. This can help your child stay motivated enough to get well and get back to playing the sport that he or she loves. Ask the coach if there is anything that your child can do during practices as well, such as exercises that don't involve his or her injured limb, stretching with the rest of the team, or helping the coach out.

3. Celebrate Milestones

In order to keep your child motivated, you need to celebrate milestones in his or her recovery. Talk to your physical therapist about different developmental markers that your child should hit again during his or her recovery. For example, if your child fractured his or her elbow, being allowed to lift a certain amount of weight with that arm is especially important and the amount of weight that your child can lift will be monitored. Ask your child to ask the physical therapist about how much weight he or she is lifting and provide you with a progress report. Once your child has hit the weight milestone that his or her physical therapist described, try to plan something enjoyable to celebrate. 

For more information, visit a physical therapy center, such as Dynamic Rehabilitation Services. 

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18 January 2016