Pediatric Manual Therapy Is Broken — Here’s How We Fix It

Pediatric physical therapy has a massive blind spot: we’ve been borrowing adult manual therapy techniques and applying them to kids.
Researcher and pediatric specialist Ginny Henderson is here to change that.

In this episode, Ginny breaks down:
🔹 Why “kids aren’t little adults” isn’t just a catchphrase — it’s biomechanics
🔹 How improper force through long bones can create real dangers
🔹 Why participation, not ROM, should be your primary outcome
🔹 How parent beliefs, trauma, and stress fuel chronic pain
🔹 The difference between nociceptive vs. nociplastic pain in kids
🔹 How to build trust and treat pediatric pain safely and effectively

00:00 – The Blind Spot in Pediatric Manual Therapy
00:41 – Meet Ginny Henderson
01:06 – Kids Aren’t Little Adults
01:53 – Ginny’s Path Into Pediatrics
03:29 – Adult vs. Pediatric PT: Two Languages
04:44 – The Dangers of Adult Techniques on Kids
06:41 – Who You Can Mobilize or Manipulate
07:59 – Participation Over ROM
09:15 – Techniques Designed for Growing Bodies
11:40 – Motor Learning in Pediatric PT
13:21 – What Parents Really Want
15:36 – Chronic Pain in Kids
17:32 – Nociplastic vs. Nociceptive Pain
18:45 – When Pain = Stress
20:22 – Coaching Parents Without Blame
22:54 – Tools PTs Can Use Today
24:45 – What To Do With Tomorrow’s Patient
26:54 – Myth or Fact: Pediatric Edition
28:10 – Words of Wisdom

Whether you’re a pediatric PT, a manual therapy fellow, or a clinician who occasionally sees kids and feels terrified, this conversation will completely reshape how you think about treating children.