Osteopathy for Babies & Children
The team at Kettering Osteopaths have experience of treating children of all ages (from neonates to adolescents) for a wide range of conditions. As a baby’s skeleton is softer than an adult’s, the osteopath will use very gentle osteopathic treatments for the treatment of babies and children.
Gentle soft tissue massage and joint articulation aims to increase the blood flow and stimulate the nerve supply to all the tissues of the body. Sometimes cranial osteopathic techniques are used, which are safe, gentle and non-manipulative. These are frequently used on babies and young children, but are useful for patients of all ages.
Osteopathic treatment can sometimes be used to help reduce the pains which some children feel around their joints, especially if they experience a rapid growth spurt. By using gentle stretching and massage to reduce any tension around the joints and advising on activity and sports, this postural discomfort can sometimes be reduced. This can often also be the case in very sporty children who may have sports injuries, where a combination of treatment and the correct advice on training and rehabilitation can be helpful.
Osteopathic treatment is used with the underlying principle that the structure and the function of the body are intimately related. If a postural or structural imbalance develops, it can adversely affect the body’s function. For example a knee or ankle injury can result in compensation patterns developing and producing pain or discomfort elsewhere in the body. All children will therefore usually have their overall posture checked during an osteopathic consultation, not just the site of injury.
Some adolescents develop a spinal curvature or “scoliosis”. Only the most severe of these require surgical intervention, and gentle osteopathic treatment and an appropriate exercise regime are often enough to allow children to grow with, and accommodate, such conditions.
If a child presents with a spinal curvature that requires further imaging or referral, the osteopath will usually write to the GP or consultant with the clinical findings and details. At Kettering Osteopaths we work closely with local GPs and have experience of working with wider NHS bodies in some patient cases.