While completing my Physiotherapy degree at Griffith University I learnt heaps. My brain was continually exploding with new knowledge as every single day we had a lecture about something different. The lecturers and tutors you have at university form a lasting impression on you throughout your career. It’s no surprise that I can still hear some of them talking about the topics that they were passionate about:

- “There’s no such thing as lactic acid – only lactate and hydrogen!”
- “Physio’s easy – if it’s tight, you have to loosen it, and if it’s loose, you have to tighten it.”
- “If you hear hoofs, think horses, not zebras.” 
        … and my personal favourite:
- “Kids are NOT little versions of adults!”

I am passionate about treating children because we can make an incredibly large impact on their lives. Rebecca “Jack of All Trades” Bell and myself have undergone training in paediatric physiotherapy because we believe it is very important to help this population. The bottom line is this: if we can address problems in children before they become adults, it saves a heck of a lot of issues later on.

My lecturers were right – children aren’t little adults. The physiology of a child is mind-blowingly different to an adult – there is so much growth and adaptation occurring every second of every day. This gives us an incredible opportunity to make long-lasting, effective changes quite quickly. 

Children have so many different challenges to deal with than adults – the most common things that I see as a paediatric physio are things that adults just don’t have to think about. The most common thing that I treat and manage in the clinic is Growth Plate problems – essentially, bones growing faster than the muscles can keep up with! This is called “apophysitis” and most commonly occurs at the knee and heel. 

I am also passionate about helping children on the NDIS – I see a wide and varied population of children with an array of disabilities. Helping these children is a hugely important job that can really have a massive impact on their lives moving forward. Physiotherapists have a lot to offer to help children from babies all the way through to adulthood. Babies will often develop torticollis and flat spots on their skulls. Toddlers can fall behind their developmental milestones and need some help to achieve them. These are things I see regularly and love to help with. 

In fact, I love it so much I have opened a pilot clinic in Jimboomba to best help our neighbouring communities too. I have teamed up with a fantastic multi-disciplinary clinic – “LS Health Services” - which is also staffed by speech therapists, occupational therapists, child psychologists and much more. 

It’s an immense privilege to help out our youngest community members and be a small part of their lives.

 If you would like more information about how physiotherapy may be able to help your child, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.