The patient's name is fictitious for reasons of privacy.
The story of Koen (10 years old) told by his mother:
Koen fell off a swing in August 2010 and sprained his ankle. According to the doctor it should have got better after walking with the aid of crutches for three weeks, but it remained painful. After 6 weeks it still wasn't any better. They didn't know what more to do at the hospital; nothing showed on x-rays and scans. Koen started to limp after 5 minutes on the tennis court. Physiotherapy didn't help. Things got steadily worse. His neck started to trouble him as well and he held his head crookedly when he walked; he was at home more than he was at school. The fall from the swing was 9 months ago. Our general practitioner referred us to a children's physiotherapist. Another colleague took a look at him because her colleague was absent. That was a lucky break for Koen because it was obvious to her that Koen has hypermobility. After consultation with our general practitioner and children's physiotherapist we started Bugnet therapy. The effects were quick: Koen didn't stay home from school again that school year and, after a couple of days, had no neck pain at all. The pain in his foot quickly improved with the exercises and has now (August 2012) almost completely disappeared. He can now play tennis for 2 hours without any problems! He has been measured for arch supports for his feet.
The Bugnet therapy also helped other symptoms; he does 1 or 2 exercises every day that train the whole body. Koen used to trip over frequently and he could not keep up with his peers when swimming. Writing was also a problem. He could not ice skate either, even while holding on to a chair, but last winter he followed an ice skating course and went skating twice a week. Koen sometimes suffers from strain because he plays so much sport. He suffered wrist complaints while swimming and playing tennis because he moved his wrists too much. A few adjustments made to the exercises to train his stability helped quite quickly. He felt his feet and knees after a couple of hours of sports, but that passed after resting. Alternating and timing the sports works the best.
It is clear that Koen must continue his exercises, definitely while he is still growing. We visit the Bugnet therapist every 6 to 8 weeks. Sometimes the exercises are changed if there are any complaints or if the therapist sees that improvements can be made to his posture or movement for instance.
Things are going well with our son now because we happened to chance on the therapy, but it is a pity that hypermobility is often overlooked. Koen is doing well now and we are extremely happy that he continues to do so well with Bugnet therapy!
November 2012