Literally Listen To Your Clients...... The Importance Of Seeing a Client As a Whole In Paediatric Physio  

Literally Listen To Your Clients……..

The Importance Of Seeing a Client As a Whole In Paediatric Physio  

Last month a young client (9 years old) came in with a relatively simple lateral ankle injury.  Personally, I always get the child to tell their version of the story and after I get their grown up to fill in the gaps or add their perception of events, I do this for a variety of reasons.  However, on this occasion I noticed that the child frequently paused for breath, snorted and tended to talk whilst he held his breath making his sentences short and delayed. As I treated his ankle I asked about this (in my head dysfunctional breathing pattern), he mentioned it was something he always did, and his mother thought it was just a habit and he had got into.

I’ve read a lot on sleep and more specifically on mouth breathing recently, so I decided to delve deeper into his sleep patterns and daytime tiredness. His mother was very open and revealed that he snored loudly at night and had always been a restless sleeper.

Despite the fact the child was giggling as he learnt he snored loudly it did make me suggest they visit their GP to rule out any underlying issues. To my surprise, the mother later called to tell me that her son had been diagnosed with sleep apnoea and was now receiving treatment. His mother also said that at home not only had they had already noticed his sleep improved significantly, but his behaviour at school and his performance in sports had also seen remarkable improvements.

This experience reinforced the importance of truly listening to the client. It’s a reminder that sometimes, what seems like a minor habit can be a sign of a more significant underlying issue.