January Professional Development Recap
Published on
08 Feb 2018
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On the last Friday of the month the team at Pure Physio get together for four hours of Professional Development. We invite speakers who are specialists in their field (Physiotherapists, Doctors, Dieticians, Surgeons, Exercise Physiologists) to present on the latest research and developments in clinical practice. We can then apply it to our clinical practice and ensure that every patient at Pure Physio receives Gold Standard Treatment.
We started 2018 with a presentation from Mr Brian Loh, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at The Royal Children’s Hospital and St Vincent’s Private Hospital. Brian presented on growth and development, common paediatric presentations and ACL reconstruction in the paediatric and adolescent population. We then looked at musculoskeletal Physiotherapy for paediatric and adolescent patients and the guidelines on sport and activity for Children and Adolescents.
Human growth and development is an incredible thing and an injury or illness to a growing body can have lifelong effects. However, through the close monitoring that occurs in paediatric centres and perfectly timed interventions, these long term effects from injury can be minimised and even prevented.
For example, if a child ruptures their ACL, the surgeon will assess at what stage of growth and development the child is at and perform the appropriate surgical intervention to avoid disrupting the growth plates in the growing child. These procedures ensure that the leg will continue to grow at the same rate as the uninjured leg, with a strong and stable ACL graft.
The rehabilitation for a child following ACL reconstruction differs from that of an adult. The timeframes for return to various activities tend to be longer as muscle strengthening takes longer in prepubescent children as they do not have the hormones that adults have to build muscle in response to strength training.
Return to play, physical activity and sport is essential for any paediatric patient following injury. The research shows that children benefit from participating in lots of different activities and sports and that specialisation to an individual sport should not occur until the later teenage years, if at all.
Many sports have guidelines and recommendations on modifications and time spent on a certain activity, such as bowling for young cricketers, pitching in baseball, weight training in the gym, running distances and weight of equipment in athletics.
Physical activity is essential for everyone, whatever your age. In the paediatric population we need to ensure that the level of activity is appropriate for the stage of growth and development, especially when returning from injury. The team at Pure Physio are here to guide you on your rehabilitation and return to activity following injury, no matter your age.
We’re here to help.
If you’d like to learn more or need to book an appointment, drop us a note. Our team will get back to you shortly.
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