West Kirby Physiotherapy are now able to offer a specialised children’s physiotherapy service.

Jane Thomas is a specialist physiotherapist with over 12 years of experience assessing, treating and managing children with a variety of conditions.

The service provides an individual assessment of the child’s needs including development screening, a personalised treatment programme as well as a detailed report.

Sessions are fun and structured into individual sessions based on the child’s needs.

Treatment options are flexible, from a one off assessment and advice to intensive blocks with a follow up home programme.

Examples of conditions treated:

Neurological conditions	Cerebral Palsy Head Injury
Movement and co-ordination disorders	Developmental Co- ordination disorder - DCD Dyspraxia Poor balance, co- ordination.
Neuro muscular conditions	Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal muscular atrophy Congential Myotonic Dystrophy
Genetic disorders/Syndromes	Down syndrome Cystic fibrosis Noonan syndrome
Developmental disorders	Hypotonia Development Delay problems associated with prematurity
Orthopaedic conditions (muscles and bone)	Foot and Gait problems rehabilitation post trauma or surgery.

Physio Facts...

Cerebral Palsy is a general term used to describe disorders of movement and posture. Affecting about 1 in 400 children, it is usually caused by a part of the brain failing to develop before birth or in early childhood.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), sometimes called Dyspraxia or clumsy child syndrome, is when a person's motor skills are impaired, resulting in movement and co-ordination difficulties. It is thought to be caused by insufficient nerve cell development in the brain, resulting in information from sensory perception such as vision, hearing, speech and balance not being processed properly.

Gait, or walking pattern, is a complex activity involving most parts of the body. Our gait varies according to our individual anatomy, our age and whether the walking is fast or slow. Physiotherapy is used to help a person learn how to walk again following a disease or injury, or to keep them mobile if they have irreversible problems affecting their walking pattern.