What is Scoliosis? Scoliosis is the curving and turning of the spines in children and adolescents. It’s most common form is ‘idiopathic scoliosis’ which means we are not sure why it occurs. It is also common in children with neuromuscular disorders such as cerebral palsy. Congenital...
Sever’s disease is a condition that causes heel pain in young adolescents (approximately 9-15 years olds). Its onset is usually during or shortly after a growth spurt. Sever’s disease often occurs in active teenagers, particularly those who participate in a sport that it is a high impact...
Hypermobility syndromes are a condition where a person’s joints are more flexible and have increased range of motion. It is a disorder of connective tissue caused by changes to the collagen makeup in ligaments. In some children this condition causes no issues, but for some...
Crawling is a big milestone we look for in our babies. It is commonly achieved between 9-12 months of age. In recent times there has been some controversy about how important crawling is. Here at Western Paediatric Physiotherapy, we believe it is an extremely important...
Here in Hoppers Crossing and the surrounding suburbs we are lucky to have so many great playgrounds around! Spending time at playgrounds is great for childhood development. Some paediatric physiotherapists often refer to playgrounds as gyms for children. You may have even seen adults using...
What is Muscle tone? Muscle tone refers to the amount of underlying tension in a muscle. It describes how much tension is in a muscle when it is relaxed. What happens when it is low tone? In children, low muscle tone is used to describe when an infant...
A common question that all new parents ask is when should my child be meeting milestones? These include rolling, sitting, crawling, standing and walking. This is dependent on a few factors, if your child is born premature, they will take longer to meet milestones as compared...
When we have new born babies we hear a lot about tummy time, but why is it so important? And how much tummy time should our babies do? Why is it important? Lying on tummy's is important for babies as it helps to develop neck, back, hip...
Play is something that children do, and they do it freely, by choice. Most children don’t require much coercion to get them to participate in a playful activity. Children learn through play experiences – interacting with various objects, surroundings and people. You have probably heard...
Plagiocephaly Plagiocephaly is a condition that impacts newborns through to babies approximately 8 months of age. It is sometimes known as flat head syndrome. Babies are born with softened heads; this means that if they spend too much time lying on one side of their head...