What is Pediatric Feeding Therapy? Pediatric feeding therapy is designed to help children who have difficulties with feeding, eating, or swallowing. Feeding challenges can arise from a variety of issues, including medical conditions like gastroesophageal reflux, developmental disorders like autism or cerebral palsy, sensory processing difficulties, or behavioral issues. Pediatric feeding therapists, often speech-language pathologists…
Optimizing Aquatic Therapy: The Critical Role of Air and Water Temperature When clients enter the pool area for aquatic therapy at AzOPT, we often hear “Wow! It is so warm in here.” Even the pool water is warmer than most expect. While local gyms keep their pool areas with ambient air temperatures in the mid…
The Importance of Crawling Crawling on hands and knees is a major milestone in your baby’s life. It is the first time they get to explore on their own, which is a huge stepping stone for future milestones to come. Typically, babies may start to crawl between seven and ten months of age, but it…
The Hidden Benefits of Plyometrics Training We all know the benefits to staying healthy through exercise. However, knowing what specific exercises are needed to accomplish our goals is often challenging. A quick online search is overwhelming, with results varying from cardio to lifting weights to body weight and stretching exercises. It’s confusing to figure out…
Vertical Play During Early Infancy During the early stages of infancy, many parents are educated on the importance of “tummy time”. Playing on their stomach is a crucial activity to improving muscle strength in an infant’s neck and trunk. However, this is not the only activity parents can facilitate with their little one! Although tummy…
How Can You Tell If Your Shoulder Pain is Serious? A shoulder quiz to get started: Are you experiencing discomfort when raising your arms? Can you easily perform tasks like reaching for pants or using the toilet? Do daily activities such as grooming or household chores cause pain? Does dressing yourself involve altering your movements…
Crocs Don’t Rock (A Pediatric PT Perspective) Independent walking is an exciting time for parents and their child! Your little one is now walking on their own and exploring their environment. Playing barefoot at home is preferred in order to develop the arches in the feet and strengthen the foot/ankle muscles. But, if families need…
7 Stretches and Exercises to Reduce Knee Pain Have you ever experienced knee pain? There are many different causes of knee pain – fractures, overuse injuries, arthritis, imbalances, instability, and more. The knee is a complex body part that works with muscles surrounding the knee in conjunction with the joints above and below the knee…
What is Core Stability? What is our core? Our core muscles include the abdominal and trunk muscles which make up the center (core) of our body. Core stability is achieved when our core muscles work together to create stability to allow for coordinated movement. Core stability is important for all positions and movements, both stationary and…
Baby Wearing – Safety and Postural Considerations Baby wearing is a common practice that involves carrying a baby close to your body using a carrier, wrap, or sling. In the last decade, baby wearing has become increasingly popular and has shown benefits including improved success with breastfeeding, improved infant to parent bonding, and improved attentiveness…
