Child and Adolescent Physio

Sport and exercise is an extremely important part of your child’s development but the stress on growing bodies can often lead to pain and injury.

During growth spurts, your childs body goes through numerous changes. They get longer and heavier placing more stress on joints and have more difficulty adjusting to these often rapid changes. While children and teenagers can have many similar injuries to adults, there are conditions which specifically affect them.

Growth plates are located at the end of bones and allow growth to occur. These plates generally fuse at around 18-20 years of age. Before they fuse, these plates can become overloaded and be a source of pain. Common sites where apophysitis occurs include:

• Knee (Osgood Schlatter’s disease)

• Heel (Sever’s disease)

• Hip (at attachment of thigh muscles)

Other conditions to affect children include:

• Stress fracture (especially lower back)

• Wrist arm fractures

• Back pain (Scheuermann’s disease, juvenile scoliosis)

• Posture related problems

It is extremely important for your child’s physical and mental health to participate in their chosen sport. SmartMoves physiotherapists can play a key role in reducing pain, managing training load and strengthening to allow a safe return to normal activity.