Pediatric Physical Therapy Services

We treat a variety of acute and chronic injuries and conditions

If you are looking for physical therapy for your child, then you’ve come to the right place.

Our physical therapists treat children and adolescents of all ages and abilities. We are skilled at treating children with both acute and chronic injuries and disabilities, such as sports injuries, orthopedic impairments, autism, cerebral palsy, JRA, and developmental delays. Common issues that our therapists treat include weak and tight muscles, joint laxity, poor balance, and poor coordination.

Conditions Treated with Physical Therapy

Click on any of the conditions below for more information about how our team of therapists at Orange Pediatric Therapy can help your child. Don’t see the condition you’re looking for? Contact us to learn more.

Orthopedic Injuries (Sports & Recreational)

Sports injuries range from sprains and strains to fractures and ligament tears. Concussions are also included here.

Physical therapists at OPT are familiar in treating a variety of orthopedic injuries and post-surgical patients. We work closely with patients and physicians to follow necessary treatment protocols. In addition to rehabilitation of the injured body part, physical therapists at OPT are dedicated to educating patients and families on injury prevention to limit injury recurrence.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders can display some gross motor deficits, but not all of these children exhibit gross motor limitations. In addition to gross motor difficulties, many children with ASD exhibit language delays, difficulties with social interaction, sensory processing difficulties and other fine motor concerns. At Orange Pediatric Therapy, our physical therapists often work with children with ASD through a team approach with our occupational therapists and speech therapists to encompass the individual child’s needs as a whole. For more information visit www.autismspeaks.org

Cerebral Palsy

Children with cerebral palsy exhibit abnormalities in muscle tone and strength which can lead to range of motion limitations, bony deformities, balance and coordination deficits. As a result, functional mobility skills (i.e. crawling, standing, walking, etc) are negatively impacted.

Our therapists work with these children to improve upon their specific limitations through individualized functional programs suited to fit each individual child’s needs. In addition to treatment programming, we work with families to perform adaptive equipment evaluations for wheelchairs, adaptive seating, standers, gait trainers and walking aides as well as orthotic assessments in order to achieve the maximum extent of mobility possible.

Developmental Delay

Children who exhibit developmental delays are considered to be behind their same age peers in achieving their gross motor milestones. Learn more about developmental milestones within our Family Resources section. At Orange Pediatric Therapy, we work with children and families to determine not only what the delays are, but why the delays are present by completing a comprehensive gross motor evaluation. Treatment is geared towards improving the impairments that lead to difficulties in performing age appropriate motor skills.

Genetic Disorders

Children who have been diagnosed with genetic disorders face a wide range of challenges and limitations. Physical therapists at Orange Pediatric Therapy will work with patients and families perform a comprehensive evaluation to determine each individual child’s impairments and limitations. The individual needs of each child will be addressed through individualized therapy programs. Referrals to occupational therapy and/or speech therapy may also be beneficial to address potential concerns in those areas.

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA)

Children with JRA often exhibit joint pain and swelling as well as range of motion deficits in the affected joints. Our team of physical therapists at Orange Pediatric Therapy works closely with patients, families and physicians to reduce pain and swelling in affected joints as well as improve joint range of motion through a variety of therapeutic techniques including but not limited to passive range of motion, soft tissue massage/mobilization and functional activities as tolerated by the patient. These children often respond well to aquatic therapy, which helps to decrease weight-bearing through painful joints while increasing the amount of movement within these joints.

Neurological Impairments

Neurological impairments include diagnoses that affect the brain’s ability to transmit neurological signals to the rest of the body. Children with neurological impairments may exhibit abnormalities in muscle tone and strength which can lead to range of motion limitations, bony deformities, balance and coordination deficits. As a result, functional mobility skills may be negatively impacted.

Our therapists work with these children to improve their limitations through specific functional programs suited to fit each individual child’s needs. In addition to treatment programming, we work with families to perform adaptive equipment evaluations for wheelchairs, adaptive seating, standers, gait trainers and walking aides as well as orthotic assessments in order to achieve the maximum extent of mobility possible.

Neuromuscular Disorders

Neuromuscular disorders encompass diagnoses or disorders that affect one’s ability to move his/her arms, legs or trunk. This includes but is not limited to diagnoses of muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, spina bifida and myopathies.

Physical therapists at OPT will work with these patients and families to address movement impairments through strengthening, stretching, positioning, and energy conservation strategies. Our therapists will also work closely with families to obtain adaptive equipment and/or orthotic devices as needed for each individual child.

Toe Walking

Toe walking is a commonly seen diagnosis and is often accompanied by tightness of the gastrocnemius/soleus complex (calf muscles). Children who are toe walkers often begin toe walking from an early age and may go undetected for some time before concerns are raised by the parents. Causes of toe walking can be idiopathic (unknown), neurological impairments or sensory processing disorders. Our team of physical therapists at Orange Pediatric Therapy will work with patients and families to determine the cause of toe walking in order to guide treatment appropriately. If the family expresses some sensory concerns, a referral to occupational therapy may be warranted to rule out sensory processing disorders. Physical therapy treatment will address muscle tightness, muscle weakness and body mechanics to promote improvements with gait patterns.

Toritcollis

Torticollis is a condition primarily seen in infants and is characterized by tightness of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck, resulting in abnormal positioning of the head. Babies with torticollis may also present with flattening of the head (plagiocephaly) due to poor head positioning.

Physical therapists at Orange Pediatric Therapy work closely with these families to develop therapeutic programs that incorporate stretching, positioning and gross motor skill development. Our therapists will also work with families and physicians to determine whether or not there is a need for a cranial orthosis to help with correction of plagiocephaly.

Our specific pediatric physical therapy treatment programs are dependent upon your child’s individual needs, but interventions and strategies used to elicit positive results can include the following.

Facilitation of developmental gross motor skills such as rolling, sitting, crawling, standing and walking
Improvement of strength and core stability through functional activities
Incorporating balance and coordination skills into play based activities
Developing stretching programs to promote improvements in muscle length and joint range of motion
Decreasing pain through the use of therapeutic modalities
Acquisition of adaptive equipment and patient education as needed to suit each individual child’s needs
Aquatic therapy to assist children in acquiring skills in the water that may be too difficult for an individual child to achieve through land-based activities

What Clients Are Saying

As a physical therapist at Cheshire Fitness Zone, I have seen firsthand the positive impact therapy services have had on so many children and their families. We are very family-oriented at Cheshire Fitness Zone and are constantly working with our families to help reach their goals for their children. It is an extremely rewarding feeling to see a child learn mobility skills that they were unable to perform prior to starting therapy services. The staff at Cheshire Fitness Zone is dedicated to providing the best care possible for all the children that they work with.

Anonymous

Cheshire Fitness Zone therapists offer hope, encouragement, and creativity. They deliver on persistence, personal gains, and individual growth because they genuinely care. In spite of working on the steps to tie his shoes for over six months at a different facility, at Cheshire Fitness Zone Erin never lost hope or let him quit. Although he had no idea each week she worked on skills that when put together would tie a shoe. She approached the idea of tying many times only to be met with complete resistance and totally shutting down. Then one day he came to me after his session and said, ‘Hey mom, guess what? I can tie my shoes.’ When I saw the pride in his eyes and the encouragement on Erin’s face I knew he had done it. It was one of the happiest moments of his childhood. What a gift…self-pride and independence.

Stacey Lyn

My twelve year old daughter has been seeing Craig since she was four years old and she loves coming to the ‘gym.’ I love that she refers to it as the ‘gym’ instead of therapy. She sees her therapy as a place where she works her body to become stronger and has fun. She is disappointed if therapy is canceled. The staff is wonderful and works to find the right fit with each child and therapist. They work across modalities and communicate with the school and her doctors. I am thankful to have Cheshire Fitness Zone in my daughter’s life! Thank you!

Heather M.

Cheshire Fitness Zone has tremendously helped not only our two children receiving services, but our entire family. The atmosphere in the clinic is friendly, supportive, and understanding. Their office staff is amazing and accommodates each family’s schedule and needs. Our children receive speech, OT, and PT services. Every one of the therapists they have worked with has been wonderful and our children have made incredible progress. The kids also love going to all of their therapy sessions because the therapists make each and every session fun and exciting. We are so fortunate to have found Cheshire Fitness Zone and recommend it to any family looking for services for their children.

Delia Falcon (Special Education Teacher)

I am so happy we came to Cheshire Fitness Zone. My daughter injured her hip figure skating. Another physical therapist diagnosed and treated her incorrectly. Luckily when we came to Cheshire Fitness Zone and saw Craig he discovered her injury was something else and much more of a serious injury. In fact, we were referred to a Pedi orthopedist who concluded with Craig’s diagnosis. The orthopedist said it was a good find, very difficult to catch, and often missed. My daughter had surgery and is now recovering and seeing Craig for rehab. She is almost done and doing well. Highly recommended Cheshire Fitness Zone.

Elaine Reilly

Cheshire Fitness Zone has been wonderful. We have worked with many of the therapists for OT and PT and have had excellent experiences with all of them. They were very accommodating to our schedule. And even on a day where my son was not into working they are always able to get him to work. Their front office is very pleasant and are always smiling when we arrive. I have to bring my other son when we come and the therapists are always willing to include both of them on days where it is difficult waiting in the lobby.

Don Hamilton

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