Lasting Effects from Injuries. Who is Easier to Help — Kids or Adults?
How is helping an injury different between kids and adults?
Recently we had a client ask, “Is it easier to help kids, or adults?” My answer, “It depends.”
We recently explored this question related to surgical recovery.
However, injuries are a more common event at all ages so let’s explore the differences between helping adults and children erase the after-effects of an injury.
Injuries have some different considerations in how they impact movement and self-regulation:
- What age did the injury happen?
- What part of the body was impacted?
- Which side of the body was impacted?
- How many cumulative injuries have there been?
To explore the answer to our main question we will use two analogies:
- A car to visualize the disrupting role of injuries to an adult
- Train tracks to understand the disruption of injuries to a child
Adults with injuries are like cars with dents
The questions you get asked about your car after an auto accident go beyond the obvious:
- Is it drivable?
- Were there prior accidents?
- Is the undercarriage ok?
- Is the electrical ok?
- Are the safety sensors all working?
Injuries to your body can play out in much the same way a car is affected. Not everything affected hurts or is obviously damaged.
- Are you able to move?
- Are your movements smooth and coordinated?
- Are you able to transition angles, positions, and directions of movement correctly and seamlessly using the correct muscles?
- Are your balance reactions still kicking in quickly to keep you safe?
How can you tell? Actually, you can’t. You are not able to objectively assess much other than an inability to move,
The process we use at Kinetic Konnections systematically checks all the basics of how your body parts should work together to move you and keep you safe.
After an injury, the gentle movement of the Bridging® technique is what guides your body back onto the right track. The more injuries you’ve had, the more there is to put back in working order. By keeping the dents of life from affecting you, the chances of ending up at the junk yard are low.
How many hidden dents from injuries are you still carrying around?
Kids with injuries are more about being knocked off track.
Yes, the specific disruptions from an injury are faster and easier to change for kids.
Unlike adults, an injury in the first three years can cause a child to jump the track developmentally. The interconnectedness of domains of development become splintered.
- When injuries are before age three, there is often a need to guide a child’s development periodically as they continue to grow. This is one way we uniquely support your child!
- With injuries after age three, the process becomes more like that for an adult. We make sure the transitions and reactions are smooth and balanced. Away you go!
The Kinetic Konnections’ movement framework has a developmental root. If we know the developmental stage your child was in when an injury occurred, we are able to zero in on related skills in our assessment.
We then use the Bridging Technique’s gentle movements to guide your child back on track. (Even if its many years later!). Subsequent developmental movements that may have been skewed are assessed and refreshed.
Does your child have an early injury that seemed ok? Maybe there’s more to it, which is currently impacting his/her ability to calm and self-organize.
At Kinetic Konnections we love being able to offer alternatives for getting you and your family back on track. An in-person or virtual session may be the missing piece to you or your child moving forward toward your/their goals.
Our goal at Kinetic Konnections is to keep your body optimally organized to behave, focus and be active for the things you enjoy in life.
Interested in Bridging education?
January 2021 will kick-off a new professional cohort. Let Cara know you’d like to get details as they are finalized.
You are now able to schedule your 30-minute virtual sessions online through the MindBody Fitness app!
New and existing clients are welcome to use this option.