Page 11 - PIC-Magazine-Issue23-Autumn-Winter-24

Do you know a family fed up with trying to fit in physiotherapy for their child and keep them motivated to do it?
We are FudgePhysio, the home of independent Physiotherapy and Hippotherapy tailored to your child’s individual needs. We offer selection of therapies with rebound, hydrotherapy, hippotherapy and physiotherapy.
Physiotherapy with children is a specialist area and needs an
We want to show the family they can have fun as a family and do therapy too.
element of fun to keep your child motivated and positive. Children require specialised treatment from an experienced therapist as they have anatomical, physiological and psychological differences to an adult.
Hippotherapy uses the 3-dimensional movement of the horse in walk to correct and improve movement, balance, core strength, in the person on the horse. It has been shown to benefit children with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, brain and spinal cord injuries and many other people with movement disorders. Research has shown that
the functional ability of these people improves following a course of Hippotherapy and can be maintained over a follow up period. Children with autism and other learning disabilities have also has proven benefits from this form of therapy.
From the Greek word hippo’s meaning horse, so translates as ‘treatment with the help of a horse’. Hippotherapy is not just ‘horse riding’ it is physiotherapy with the horse. It is using a soft fleece to sit direct on the horse, it allows the horses warmth and movement to help relax tight muscles and activate muscles of the trunk in a rhythmical pattern.
The movement of the horse replicates human gait pattern and allows the rider to experience posterior and anterior pelvic tilt, rotational pelvic movements and side flexion of the pelvis.
It allows us to use a variety of positions on the horse such as facing backwards and sideways and lying prone to help strengthen the child. Hippotherapy is best undertaken by a physiotherapist who is fully qualified in hippotherapy to consider the correct pony, gait pattern and positioning of the child so that the child has maximum effect.
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Hippotherapy is used in conjunction with ‘mainstream’ physiotherapy. It allows
a child to have fun, form a bond with the pony and feel it is not all ‘stretches’ or ‘core stability’ work. Conditions that can be modified with hippotherapy are abnormal tone, impaired balance reactions, postural asymmetry, decreased mobility and many others. The child needs to have some reasonable head control and be able to sit with support, to gain the most from hippotherapy as it allows us to put them in a variety of positions.
We have a fantastic set up with Tudor house and two sets of accessible accommodation on site with 4 poster bed and specialist equipment to help make the families stay easier. We provide tasty breakfast usually freshly baked croissants or egg and bacon rolls from the resident chickens. Here we want families to come and visit/stay and feel like it is a break for all the family, we involve siblings, they can all enjoy the animals, with the dog with waggiest bottom here to cuddles and mischievous cat. The children love feeding the chickens and horses whilst here and playing in big open garden with playhouse and swings too.
Vicky designs a bespoke therapy package working with their family/ carers and therapist and we can have visiting occupational therapist and orthotics if required. This allows us to adapt for the family if its intensive therapy with 4 sessions a day to a quiet retreat and just one hippotherapy session daily.
Fudgephysio is small family run set up so that we have continuity for the child and parents and consistent helpers so that the trust and rapport can be built and we work together to get the best potential out of the child. We teach the family what to add in at home and will do reports and activity programmes if required.
If you are interested to know more visit us at www.fudgephysio.co.uk.
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