What Are You Waiting For??

If you've read my bio you know I started my career in adult rehabilitation. I worked with all kinds of injuries including patients who had strokes, amputations, head injuries and and joint replacements. We worked hard with these individuals and most did inpatient and outpatient PT. I'll admit this was 25-30 years ago and insurance allowed us more time with people. (That's a whole other blog and I think I already wrote it from on top of my big soapbox.) Now since that time surgical procedures have improved or changed and people are getting up and at it very quickly after joint replacement and other surgeries. Those acute therapists are running from the time they clock in till the time they clock out, for sure. They do a great job of getting post-surgical patients on their feet quickly.

But I've experience another phenomenon personally (as well as what I hear on the street) and that is that patients just need to walk after surgery. Just walk a couple times each day and let's wait and see if you need therapy. In my own personal situation, my family member was able to walk but never quite as fast, as far, or with the same gait pattern. Said family member has ever so slowly lost function, range of motion and strength and is now experiencing falls. Those falls are directly related to weak hip muscles that stabilize us in single leg stance as we climb stairs or step up curbs.

Now don't get me wrong, walking is excellent exercise but it takes more to strengthen the gluts or hip muscles. They are big work horses and they need a little bit more strenuous activity to bulk up. As we age we also lose muscle mass and strength so we need to fight against this attrition because that's exactly when these joint replacements and back surgeries happen - when we are aging. Why not help an individual with some guided exercise for a short duration after surgery to prevent problems later?? (For sure I'm asking myself this on a daily basis.)

So does this have anything to do with my pediatric practice? It does. Like our geriatric population who may have become more sedentary, our babies are often placed in containers that prevent them from being mobile. Without the opportunity to move and use muscles our babies also don't develop strength and can lose range of motion. Most often I'm talking about the neck muscles and the hip muscles. When babies stay in containers they aren't required to work against gravity or to lift their own body weight. These are both ways we all exercise so we can be functional.

So don't wait to try to do tummy time and to spend time on the floor with your newborn. There is no time like the present to begin "exercise" with your baby. If you have questions a wellness session with a PT will help you get on track. If you've already noticed some gross motor delays you'd be wise to see a PT for evaluation. The sooner you start the process the sooner your little one will be mobile and strong.