Pediatric Physical Therapy

The Department of Physical Therapy at Boston Children's Hospital helps patients — from newborns to young adults — gain movement, strength, coordination, balance, and function.

We offer both inpatient physical therapy and outpatient physical therapy and are here to support your child as long as they need our services.

Physical therapy addresses motor impairments and physical limitations related to illness, development, or injury. As experts in pediatric care, our therapists are skilled at helping patients achieve greater function and independence. In collaboration with you, your child, and the specialists involved in their care, we’ll develop a plan to help your child reach their fullest potential.

Boston Children’s is known for its excellence in treating children and young adults with complex needs. We take a team-based approach, working with you, your child, and the other specialists on their team to develop a customized plan that addresses your child’s individual needs.

We specialize in treating patients with a broad spectrum of conditions. Some of our specialties include:

• Orthopedic conditions, including scoliosis, hip dysplasia, and limb-length discrepancy
• Sports injuries, including ACL injury, osteochondritis dissecans, fractures, and common sprains and strains
• Neurological conditions, including stroke, cerebral palsy, Chiari malformation, brain tumor, muscular dystrophy, and tethered spinal cord
• Neuromuscular conditions, including spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• Trauma-related injuries, including concussion, other head or brain injuries, and spinal cord injury
• Conditions present at birth, including brachial plexus birth injury, Down syndrome, and spina bifida
• Heart conditions, including hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and coarctation of the aorta
• Lung conditions, including cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and pneumonia
• Cancer-related conditions, including leukemia and osteosarcoma
• Multi-system conditions, including chronic pain, rheumatic conditions, mitochondrial disorders, endocrine disorders, and vestibular and balance disorders
• Pelvic floor dysfunction

Dynamic body weight-supported gait training: We offer innovative approaches to promote recovery for patients whose ability to stand or walk has been impaired. The Bioness Vector Gait and Safety System uses dynamic body-weight support to safely facilitate walking and standing activities. For many of our patients, such training has helped improve confidence, balance, and leg function significantly.

Orthotics: Many of our patients with muscle weakness or instability in their arms or legs gain mobility with the help of orthoses (braces). We work closely with Boston Orthotics and Prosthetics (Boston O&P) and other orthotics providers to customize orthoses for our patients. Because several Boston O&P clinics share locations with Boston Children’s, our patients can often meet with their physical therapist and orthotics team on the same day.

Adaptive Equipment Clinic: Boston Children’s also has the largest pediatric adaptive equipment clinic in the region for patients with complex or long-term equipment needs. Therapists from this clinic work with local vendors to secure the durable medical equipment that will help your child gain maximum function, provide support and positioning, and assist you and your child’s other caregivers. Such equipment may include a medical stroller, medical bed, complex seating system, gait trainer, bathroom equipment, power-assisted mobility device, or other equipment based on your child’s needs.

When a child is hospitalized, the goal of physical therapy is to help them recover, whether that means returning to their previous level of function or learning to work within their abilities.

We work with hospitalized patients who are:

• Recovering from surgery
• Receiving care for a traumatic injury or illness
• Undergoing treatment for an acute, chronic, or complex medical condition

Inpatient therapies: We offer an array of inpatient services, including positioning and posture alignment, range-of-motion and strengthening exercises, balance activities, airway-clearance techniques, and many others. All of these services are geared toward promoting your child’s overall health and rehabilitation during their hospitalization.

Family education: A child’s family is essential to their recovery and overall well-being. We make sure you understand what to expect from your child’s therapy and what you can do to support continued improvements in their mobility and function when your child returns home.

Adaptive equipment: Adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, bathroom equipment, and walkers, can make it possible for a hospitalized child to return home. Our physical therapists collaborate with our colleagues in the Care Management Center to ensure patients have the support they need to thrive outside of the hospital.

Discharge: Preparing a child to transition out of the hospital takes careful planning. Often, patients need adaptive equipment and many also need some level of continued care. Our therapists help determine when your child is ready to leave the hospital and help arrange for equipment and other resources they’ll need once they do.

The goal of outpatient physical therapy is to increase patients’ independence and function in all areas of their life, including at home and in the community. 

Whether your child is an infant, teen, or young adult, our therapists will customize a plan to increase their range of motion, strength, motor control, coordination, balance, gait, and functional ability — whatever your child needs to engage more fully with friends and family.

Outpatient evaluation and treatment: The first step in outpatient physical therapy is evaluating your child’s condition, how it affects their daily life, activities they enjoy, and goals they want to achieve. We’ll then develop a care plan organized around those goals, whether they involve recovering your child’s previous level of function or helping them make the most of their current abilities.

Family education: In addition to treating your child, we’ll make sure you understand their treatment plan and how you can help your child progress at home.

Episodes of care: An episode of care is a period of treatment organized around goals that you and your child help develop, an approach supported by the American Physical Therapy Association.

When your child reaches their goals — whether in a matter of weeks or months — we’ll discharge them from services so they can practice their new skills at home. Depending on their condition and stage of recovery, your child may return for additional physical therapy after planned time off, or they may not need to.