New physio practice making a big difference to small people

Canobolas Kids Physio is Orange’s new paediatric physiotherapy clinic, treating children throughout the central west from birth to 18 years.

Owned and operated by physiotherapists Patrick Blackwell and Eden Bradford, Canobolas Kids Physio is dedicated to making a big difference in the lives of the smallest members of our community.

“I love working with babies and children; I find it a really fun, rewarding career,” said Eden. Since graduating from Charles Sturt University (CSU) here in Orange, Eden has worked in a number of paediatric clinics and has a particular interest in working with babies and children under five.

“You get to be involved with a lot of their ‘first’ things,” she said. “So a baby’s first steps, first time rolling over, first time scoring a goal in soccer, that sort of thing. That is what I really love about paeds.”

Patrick, who grew up in Orange and also attended CSU, has spent his time since university working as a sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapist in private practices in Wagga Wagga and Tasmania.

Returning to Orange last year, Eden and Patrick decided to set up their very own clinic as they saw a real need for a dedicated paediatric physio practice.

“We decided to come back to the Central West because we love it up here. But we noticed that there was a gap in the market, where there were not many services to help children with a disability or kids who have developmental delays, so we wanted to help service that niche area,” said Eden.

“The main clients for our clinic would be children who have a disability like cerebral palsy or down syndrome or muscular atrophy. Or babies who just aren't meeting their developmental milestones; so kids who aren't rolling or walking when we expect them to be. Or kids who are clumsy and need some strengthening to work on their balance, that sort of thing.”

“For me, it’s kids with sporting or orthopaedic injuries, so ACL tears, broken bones, rolled ankles, or pain from sport,” said Patrick.

“Helping children get back into sports and back on the field is something I have just always enjoyed. I am also looking at holding some strength classes, let’s call it a junior athlete development class, to help kids improve their strength and reduce injury-risk playing sports. We are taking expressions of interest for that now.”

A particular focus at Canobolas Kids Physio is the use of play-based therapies.

“We really work on including play into the child's therapy so that it is fun and it is engaging and targeted at their developmental level,” said Eden.

“All the sessions include strengthening activities based around a game, so it makes it easier for parents to incorporate that into their daily routine, they know they can implement it though play and they don't have to set aside time to do set exercises.”

Canobolas Kids Physio have a lot of big plans for the future and are planning an outreach service to Dubbo and other centres in the central west.

“And we are looking at running hydrotherapy classes and also some baby developmental groups, where parents with concerns about their baby can attend a free drop-in clinic. Their first 15-minute consultation is free and then if they need anything else we can book them in after that.”

Contact Canobolas Kids Physio on 0487 504 175 or book online at www.canobolaskidsphysio.com.au