Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Highly specialized care for children with brain injuries

The Brain Injury Program at Tufts Medical Center treats children and adolescents who have acute or chronic symptoms, often disabling, from traumatic brain injuries and spine injuries. We focus on helping children improve their physical and cognitive function — and all other aspects of their well-being.

Our deeply experienced, highly trained physiatrists manage your child’s care with compassion and understanding in the warm, supportive environment of our office located on the campus of Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Treatment from expert physicians

The symptoms of a child who has suffered a brain or spine injury may include pain, limited mobility, limb dysfunctions, gait (walking) problems and other physical issues.  Injured children also may face memory problems, speech deficits, mood disorders and psychosocial problems such as struggling to maintain friendships.

Every brain and spine injury is different, which makes diagnosis and treatment a challenge. To ensure your child receives the most beneficial combination of therapies, we always begin with an in-depth evaluation of your child, which also includes listening closely to you and your family.

Based on our evaluation, we design a care plan focused on your child’s unique needs, covering every aspect of rehabilitation to help your child reach his or her goals, from going back to school or walking with confidence to returning to a sports team or part-time job.

Therapies and treatments to restore or improve your child’s function may include:

• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Therapy
• Spasticity Management
• Exercise for strength, flexibility and balance
• Orthotics and bracing

Depending on the injury, we also may recommend or refer your child to our colleagues at Tufts Medical Center in areas such as Pediatric Orthopaedics, Neurology, Neurosurgery or Psychiatry. Drawing on his wide-ranging experience and evaluation of your child’s condition,we may also prescribe other clinically proven recommendations to enhance your child’s rehabilitation.

Common treatment approaches for families and patients include:

• Education of parents about every aspect of their child’s injury
• Recommendations for in-depth academic evaluation by an independent expert, which help teachers understand how the brain injury has affected learning
• Cardiovascular exercise to improve sleep, which in turn can boost  memory, mood and concentration
• A sleep study to determine if sleep apnea or another disorder is interfering with normal sleep
• Aerobic exercise  and nutritional supplements, such as foods rich in Omega-3,-6 and -9 fatty acids, which aid in both brain cell growth and recovery
• Education of the injured child’s peers and siblings so they understand the personality and behavior changes

In some cases, we may recommend medications to stabilize mood and improve concentration, but we follow this approach only when necessary and usually for a short term.