Paediatric Physiotherapy

• • Paediatric physiotherapists help children to achieve their optimal physical development. We have specialist knowledge about the development of movement and the health conditions that are likely to affect the baby and growing child.
  • We treat children from 1-day-old babies to adolescents. Treatment may involve soft tissue massage, mobilisation, stretching, specific therapeutic exercises and posture education. 
  • We understand that children are not small adults and encourage children to move to the best of their abilities through play and age-appropriate activities.
  • Please refer to the ‘Common Conditions Treated’ section for suggestions on how paediatric physiotherapy might help your child. 

Bobath/Neurodevelopmental Therapy (NDT)

• • Our Clinic Owner and Lead Physio Alan Lyons is a highly trained Bobath/NDT Therapist and likes to focus on hands-on movement facilitations and how they apply to teaching developmental and functional movements in our population of children and adults with movement limitations. Alan has developed a movement philosophy for barefootphysio which places equal value on the physical concepts of stability, mobility, strength and balance, while also appreciating the importance of cognitive factors such as motivation and intention, and how all of these attributes combine and interact to create the ability to move.
  • The Bobath concept is a problem-solving approach used in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with movement and postural control disturbances due to a lesion of the central nervous system. It is named after Berta Bobath, a physiotherapist, and her husband Karl, a psychiatrist/neuropsychiatrist, who proposed the approach for treating patients affected with Central Nervous System anomalies.
  • Neurodevelopmental treatment is based on the premise that the presence of normal postural reflex mechanisms is fundamental to a motor skill’s performance. The normal postural reflex mechanisms consist of righting and equilibrium reactions, reciprocal innervation, and coordination patterns. The release of abnormal tone and tonic reflexes seen in CP interferes with the development of righting and equilibrium reactions.
  • At barefootphysio we use the Bobath/NDT Approach as an underlying framework, from which we develop all of our services and treatments with a balanced approach to developing independent function through quality movement.

Cuevas Medek Exercise (CME) Therapy

• • • Cuevas Medek Exercise (CME) is a physiotherapy approach for children suffering abnormal developmental motor evolution caused by a known or unknown non-degenerative syndrome affecting the central nervous system. 
    • This therapy can be applied to children from the age of 3 months until they achieve and control independent walking. 
    • The CME approach was created and developed by Ramon Cuevas, a Chilean physiotherapist, in 1972. 
    • CME Therapy aims to provoke the automatic responses of postural and functional motor control through a structured and progressive system of developmental exercises.

Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI) Therapy

• • DMI is a comprehensive intervention that incorporates current research on neurorehabilitation, technologies, and methodologies. This therapeutic technique is used by physiotherapists to treat children with gross motor impairments by improving and/or provoking a desired action with great emphasis on alignment, sensory integration, and function. The goal is to promote progress toward developmental milestones.

Multifunctional Therapy Unit (SpiderCage)

• • The Spider Cage is a suspension system which uses bungee cords and body harnesses (pelvis, trunk, shoulder, arm and leg options). 
  • The bungee cords are dynamic and provide an appropriate amount of support, enabling the user to perform movement independently, or offering the therapist a greater range of handling options to target certain activities.
  • The user can perform many exercises such as crawling, standing, or jumping in the Spider Cage, which may not be possible without the suspension provided. 
  • Performing these exercises in partial weight-bearing will allow users to improve sensory integration, developing a sense of gravitational security and reducing the anxiety associated with a fear of falling. 

Galileo Whole Body Vibration Therapy

• • Whole Body Vibration is a practice where the individual stands, sits, or lies on a machine with a vibrating platform. This vibration transmits energy to the body, and strengthens muscles by forcing them to contract and relax several times per second.
  • Whole-body vibration therapy decreases coordination deficits, reflex excitability, and spasticity, positively affecting gait and gross motor skills, increases joint mobility, and improves strength with effects lasting up to 30 minutes after treatment, making it an excellent preparatory activity in the clinic as part of our barefootphyio Intensive model.
  • Long-term benefits of vibration therapy include increased muscle mass and bone-mineral density, improved gross motor function, strength, gait, and mobility, and reduced muscle tone and spasticity. Both core, arm, and leg exercises are performed on the vibration platform, improving overall strength.
  • At barefootphysio we use the Galileo, which is a high end device used in many international centres.

Chattanooga Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)

• • FES is a treatment method aimed at improving strength, coordination, endurance, sensory feedback and timing in individual muscles or groups of muscles.
  • FES involves applying low level electrical impulses to targeted muscles causing them to contract or relax.
  • It is implemented during therapeutic activities to assist with promoting or restoring function in muscles that may be weak and/or uncoordinated, and to assist with decreasing spasticity.
  • At barefootphysio we use the Chattanooga, which is a high-end wireless device using up to 8 adhesive electrodes which can access up to 4 muscle groups at a time.

Postural Supports, Taping and Strapping

• • We use a variety of postural supports and taping/strapping techniques including but not limited to the following:
    • Dynamic Movement Orthosis (DMO) Body Suits, Leggings, Vests, Gloves and Socks to provide postural stability and reinforce weak and unstable body parts or muscle groups.
    • Kinesiology Taping is one of our most commonly used techniques to provide mechanical correction of alignment (e.g. flat- foot or in-toeing), or to facilitate improved activation of weak muscle groups (e.g. abdominals or upper back extensors)
    • Derotation Straps are commonly used to provide mechanical correction of severe rotation deformities of the lower limbs.

Orthotics, Splints and Footwear

• • We are very experienced in the biomechanical assessment of common deviations and dysfunction for the foot and lower limb. Please refer to the ‘Common Conditions Treated’ section for some examples.
  • We use a variety of off-the-shelf in-soles to provide support and correction of common problems such as flat-feet, plantar fasciitis, etc., as well as advice about appropriate footwear.
  • We use many off-the-shelf splints such as Orliman AFOs or Knee/Elbow Extension Splints  provided by our colleagues at PPL Biomechanics.
  • For more severe and complex problems we can provide customised moulded in-soles or make a referral to a specialised Orthotist or Podiatrist depending on your child’s needs. We have well-established clinical networks and links with many of these professionals around the country.