A few months ago, a mother suffering from severe, chronic constipation came to us with obvious anxiety – not for the health of her own bowel, but for the \u201cinactive\u201d bowel of her young child. This condition had caused discomfort and fear both in the child and in the mother, who felt burdened with guilt about the predisposition her child may have inherited, as well as the seeming dead end in restoring the problem.<\/p>\n
The truth is:<\/u><\/p>\n
The bowel plays a vital role in maintaining your child\u2019s overall health from birth onward. Bowel movements can tell us a great deal about our bodies – for example, whether we are drinking enough fluids and\/or consuming enough fiber.<\/p>\n
Research shows that many of us have little idea how to deal with a common problem such as constipation. Quite often, we feel uncomfortable talking about it, and when something is wrong, we do not know where to turn for help.<\/p>\n
It is important for your child or teenager to be properly assessed in order to rule out any underlying medical conditions that may require further investigation or treatment.<\/p>\n
If constipation or bowel symptoms continue to trouble your child, you should discuss this with your internist, pediatrician, or family doctor, if you have not already done so. They may recommend medications such as laxatives, request additional investigations, or refer your child\/teenager to a specialist doctor, such as a gastroenterologist.<\/p>\n
You may also request a referral to a physiotherapist with specialized knowledge in pediatric pelvic health for the assessment and management of bladder and bowel symptoms.<\/p>\n
What to Expect from Physiotherapy<\/u><\/p>\n
A specialist pelvic health physiotherapist will ask detailed questions about the symptoms and any treatments you may already have tried.<\/p>\n
They will explain their physiotherapy perspective, what may be contributing to the problem, and which strategies may now be helpful.<\/p>\n
To gain a more specific understanding of the issue, you and your child\/teenager may be asked to complete a diary over one or two weeks. This diary may include details such as what the child eats and drinks, how often they use the toilet, what the stools look like, and whether there are any accidents or leakages. Analyzing this diary will help the physiotherapist design individualized strategies to improve symptoms.<\/p>\n
The physiotherapist will likely ask about toilet habits, positioning, and routines, and discuss how these fit into the child\u2019s school day, extracurricular activities, sports, and daily life.<\/p>\n
They will provide advice to help improve symptoms and may suggest exercises to practice at home, arranging follow-up sessions to assess how well the recommendations are working.<\/p>\n
Additional strategies – such as breathing exercises, abdominal massage, manual therapy techniques, pelvic floor and sphincter muscle retraining exercises, biofeedback, or other therapeutic exercises – may also be discussed on an individual basis, depending on your child\u2019s or teenager\u2019s specific assessment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few months ago, a mother suffering from severe, chronic constipation came to us with obvious anxiety – not for the health of her own bowel, but for the \u201cinactive\u201d bowel of her young child. This condition had caused discomfort and fear both in the child and in the mother, who felt burdened with guilt about the predisposition her child may have inherited, as well as the seeming dead end in restoring the problem. The truth is: The bowel plays a vital role in maintaining your child\u2019s overall health from birth onward. Bowel movements can tell us a great deal about our bodies – for example, whether we are drinking enough fluids and\/or consuming enough fiber. Research shows that many of us have little idea how to deal with a common problem such as constipation. Quite often, we feel uncomfortable talking about it, and when something is wrong, we do not know where to turn for help. It is important for your child or teenager to be properly assessed in order to rule out any underlying medical conditions that may require further investigation or treatment. If constipation or bowel symptoms continue to trouble your child, you should discuss this with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physiotherapy-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27758,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27755\/revisions\/27758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ptpraxis.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}