dd needs physio - can anyone tell me what to expect?

[ladylush]

dd (born at 30+5) now 18 mo saw a paediatrician today and she said dd needs physio. Her achilles tendons are very tight so she can't stand flat footed - stands on her toes. Has anyone else's dc had physio for a similar problem? Wondering what to expect. TIA

Hi, my son (born 24+1) has physio and its nothing to be scared of. Ours have been really lovely.

He had similar issues - tendancy to stand on tip toes - and we were assessed by a physio and shown exercises to do with him. This was mostly making sure we stretched his tendons several times a day by holding his calf and gently pushing his toes up. We were advised to do this every nappy change so we remembered.

As he got older and started to pull up to stand we were shown more exercises to encourage him to weight bear appropriately (e.g. if he rose onto his toes to hold him at the hips and push down onto flat feet again).

its all about practise and helping them to learn teh "right" way to do something, i.e. the way which won't cause them any skeletal or muscular problems in the future.

We were also told to discourage "W" sitting where they sit on their bum with a leg each side folded back and outwards. that can turn the hips inwards and create funny problems with gait.

good luck!

Similar to Michaela, but just to add we found the physio tolerated much better by ds2 in the bath & we can get a much better stretch once he has loosened up a bit in the water.
They may also discuss with you to see if you feel some sort of orthosis may help to keep the feet in a good position.

Thanks both of u - dd seeing a private physio on thurs for assessment.

I hope all goes well ladylush.
We have seen physio a few times. DD not currently exhibiting any 'problems', but she has PVL (basically brain damage), so they wanted to keep an eye on her.

In our experience the physio have always been lovely. I think people choose to specialise in young children.

It's amazing how much a bit of gentle physio can help these days.

ieattoomuchcake - thank you I've chosen a place that specialises in paediatric treatments so am hopeful the therapy will help dd. Glad to hear your dd isn't exhibiting any problems at the moment but I guess it's probably reassuring for you to know that the care is there if she does need it. Because dd was born so early we don't quite know whether she will hit her milestones on target but so far it seems to be mainly her locomotor development that's delayed.