Now you see him. Then you don’t.

Earlier this past month in Washington DC, Max, my 1 year old son, learned how to negotiate stairs!

Each weekday morning, Max and I are the first to wake up. We amble downstairs into the living room to hang out on the floor. Our morning routine is a combination of play mixed in with preparing for my workday.

Max is a little explorer. He likes to check out every nook and cranny of the room, take out all his toys and peruse through the books on the coffee table. Every few minutes he crawls back to give me a hug and then immediately wiggles out of my arms on to his next curiosity.

One morning two weeks ago, he did not check in per his normal frequency. I scanned the room to locate him. No where in sight!

I grew concerned as I could hear him off in the distance making excited baby noises. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little leg wiggling up the stairs. I leapt up. Ran over to the stairs. Lo and behold, little Max was on the fifth stair heading towards the sixth!

I was alarmed as he had never done this before despite many days of standing at the first step trying to figure out of to lift himself upward. After whisking Max to safety, I smiled as I thought about how after many hundreds of attempts at lifting a leg up the stairs, standing up from the floor and crawling around, Max developed the ability to negotiate stairs! (As an aside, a gate was installed to prevent future escapades).

How does this baby relate to physical therapy?

His movement development is analogous to the rehab process. Often we meet with folks in pain unable to participate in activities they love. We identify how to use exercise to get them moving more efficiently and effectively. I often refer to this as the rehab ladder. We all have a figurative starting point at the foot of the staircase. Our goal is to get to the top. How do we bridge the gap?

In a client with knee pain who wants to run, we begin with evaluating how their knee bends and how they stand on one leg as these are necessary functions to run. After these milestones are optimally achieved, we move on to a single leg squat. Following this we propel the body more quickly through space via jumping then running in place and lastly running forward.

Working through these milestones effectively negotiates the recovery process. It guides a client who’s primary issue a painful knee towards returning to the activities they love. Physical therapy, unlike a sports car, cannot take clients from zero to 60 and alleviate their pain in 6.3 seconds. Instead, through manual therapy, exercises and education we empower clients to take control of their situation and make baby steps towards the ultimate goal of living life unencumbered

The coolest feature of the human body is it will adapt to the exercises. Potential can be unlocked provided the plan of action is appropriate to the individual and specific to their goal!

If you or anyone you know are struggling at the bottom of the stair case and would like to get out of pain and move better, we would be delighted to help you!