We’ve been seeing a lot of kids in the clinic who are feeling stressed and anxious with the changes to routine and the return to school. Our osteopath, Grant Turner, shares some ways osteopathic treatment can help support your child as they experience these big feels.
Osteopath, Grant Turner, loves treating children, particularly school-aged kids. He’s been seeing a growing number of kids who are a little unsettled and with big feelings as routines are disrupted and school returns.
Just like with us adults, kids are experiencing some anxiety and stress with the change in environment. While some are excited to see their mates in the playground, get back to team sports and have a break for their parents, others are finding the transition tough.
So how can osteopathy help? There are so many ways an osteopath can support you and your child during this period and ongoing.
Addressing physical factors linked to psychological stress
Osteopathy can help to address some of the physical factors that may arise in your child’s condition. An osteopath can use a range of techniques to assist in reducing tension and improving range of motion in affected areas, to help the overall wellbeing of a child.
While children are robust little beings, tightness or restriction in the body can negatively impact their psychological wellbeing. And the incredible thing is, they may not even know that there are physical factors, let alone be able to communicate this to you, especially if your child is young.
Identifying imbalances in the body
Your osteopath can perform an osteopathic assessment to identify any imbalances in your child’s body. This may reveal potential strains in areas of their body that could be causing or exacerbating issues that present in stressful times at school.
While your child may not complain about aches or pains, these imbalances can be present. Its just that their body has become accustomed to dealing with it. Just like when we get used to the tightness in our back or the limitation in our stretch. It’s often only when this is identified and managed that we experience how good it feels to be well again.
In children, these physical factors can also sometimes be factors that contribute to kids being easily distracted, especially in the classroom. Irritability, poor mood, becoming withdrawn, feeling anxious and unsettled are all indications that there could be more going on other than your child being difficult.
Supporting your child’s growth and development
One other really notable issue for school aged children that can cause discomfort is aches and pains from growing. Both primary and high school children go through periods of a lot of growth. You know those times at breakfast when you have to do a double-take at how much your child has grown overnight? It really happens!
Growth spurts can cause a lot of discomfort and for children, it can be hard to connect the dots between the discomfort and their mood.
Osteopathic assessment and treatment can assist with ensuring the growing is symmetrical between sides and may help to assist the body with doing this as effectively as possible and reduce the aches that can occur with it.
Physical factors adding to the stress, poor mood and anxiety can be an area that an Osteopath may be able to assist with. As always, this will come back to identifying potential underlying causes of the imbalances and assisting with reducing this tension to allow for a better level of overall comfort.
If your child is feeling overwhelmed with the disruptions to their lockdown routine, or simply needing some additional support during this important period of growth and development, chat to our osteopath team. You can book an appointment here or call our clinic on 5200 1044.