No one wants to see their child in pain–especially when that pain doesn’t seem like it will ever resolve. Unfortunately, this is a reality for kids struggling with pediatric chronic pain.
All kids will experience pain at some point. Pain is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong–it lets us know when we’ve scraped our knee or sprained an ankle. However, the pain associated with those kinds of injuries is known as acute pain. Once the injury heals, the pain will fade.
Chronic pain occurs when pain persists for three months or more–well past the time an injury should have healed. Chronic pain is far more complicated than acute pain. Sometimes, it stems from a chronic health condition (such as juvenile arthritis or cerebral palsy). Other times, it might have developed out of an initial injury. And sometimes, it has no clear cause at all.
Fortunately, you have options for managing pediatric chronic pain, including pediatric physical therapy at Libre Physical Therapy. Our compassionate team will work with you, your child, and your child’s care team to find all-natural, drug-free options for addressing pain.
Keep reading to learn more about how we help Homestead, FL, and Kendall, FL kids say goodbye to chronic pain–and say hello to an active, fun-filled life!
What Can Pediatric Therapy Do to Manage Pediatric Chronic Pain?
The first step in managing your child’s pain is to understand why they’re experiencing it. For that reason, we’ll always begin treatment with a detailed health history and comprehensive assessment. You can share any medical issues that might be the source of your child’s pain, and we’ll observe your child during playtime, looking for any mechanical issues that might be contributing to it.
From there, we can create a personalized treatment plan to address your child’s needs. Depending on the reason for your child’s pain, pediatric physical therapy might be enough to help them find relief. Other kids, particularly kids with high-level disabilities, will likely benefit from a multidisciplinary approach, of which physical therapy is a crucial part.
Either way, we offer several interventions that can help your child manage chronic pain so they can become more active, independent, and social.
We often start kids off with manual therapy. These hands-on techniques use the power of human touch to reduce pain and improve mobility. We might guide your child’s joints through their current range of motion (mobilization) or carefully manipulate their muscles, tendons, or ligaments (soft tissue manipulation).
However, the real focus of our treatments will be on therapeutic exercise. We’ll create a customized treatment plan to improve areas where your child struggles, such as…
- Muscular strength and endurance
- Joint mobility
- Coordination
- Balance and spatial awareness
Improving these struggles can help pave the way for lasting pain relief. We can also work with your child on functional training–helping them learn how to perform daily tasks that might be difficult for them. Ultimately, we want to help your child thrive in their day-to-day life, and helping them learn how to do those important everyday tasks is part of that process.
Start Your Child’s Pain-Relief Journey Today!
The Libre Physical Therapy PTs understand how difficult it can be for children struggling with pediatric chronic pain. But getting active in a fun, engaging way can set them on the path to success.
Schedule an appointment to learn more about how we can help your child.
Tags: manual therapy, Pain Management, pediatric chronic pain relief, physical therapy
