"Physiotherapy in babies provides flexibility, postural alignment and increased sensory capabilities" 2026

Finding an effective method to solve infant colic, reflux or constipation in infants and children from the first week of life is the driving force of Juan López López, father of two children and physiotherapist specializing in children's osteopathy. He currently works at Galenum Clínicas with a totally harmless and painless therapy with results from the first session. He is also director of the Levante branch of the Master of Children's Osteopathy at the Atlantic University of Lisbon (UATL) and professor of Clinical Stays at the UCAM of Murcia.

Why opt for physiotherapy in children?

Children between the ages of 0 and 10 are specifically in a crucial period of growth and development, their muscles are gaining greater strength, their bones are growing, reflexes are increasing... At this stage, physical exercise is essential for healthy growth. Physiotherapy includes a pediatric specialization that is responsible for the psychomotor development of children, whose main objectives are: to prevent, stabilize, improve and normalize child development. They are at the perfect age for physical therapy to provide them with flexibility, postural alignment and an increase in sensory capabilities.

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Tell us in which cases we could help you. Could you give us examples of cases of babies or children with some ailment?

In the case of newborns, imagine the amount of changes a baby undergoes to adapt to the new environment that surrounds it. These changes can be altered for a multitude of reasons that we can treat with physiotherapy and osteopathy techniques. We can find infant colic, reflux or constipation (in a baby with immaturity of the digestive system), cranial deformations and plagiocephaly (due to fetal malposition or the use of instruments during childbirth...) or in older children we can find the beginnings of scoliosis or, for example, it is very common to see recurrent sprains in children because no good specific work has been done.

What would you say to parents who have a baby with colic, to convince them that physiotherapy or osteopathy is a good solution?

Don't pay attention to those who say that “it disappears over time” and don't doubt that physiotherapy is a good ally, harmless and risk-free. At Galenum Clínicas we are physiotherapists specializing in children's osteopathy with more than 8 years of experience and results from the first session even for babies just one week old. The technique is performed in favor of the movements of the digestive system, gently and does not pose any danger to the baby and the baby does not feel any type of discomfort or pain during the session. The results of the technique are spectacular and that is what convinces them in the end.

What is done to babies to solve colic? (Steps, sessions...)

When they arrive at the clinic and throughout the session, I like to give parents guidelines to follow at home, especially when the crisis begins. At Galenum Clínicas we have designed a therapeutic method based on massage techniques and manipulations of visceral and cranial osteopathy, whose objective is to normalize the tensions that are generated in the abdomen of the child and relieve the accumulation of gases that their digestive system causes while they finish maturing. In a couple of sessions the problem has disappeared.

What do you think of the detractors of osteopathy for not being an official discipline?

I always say that I am a registered physiotherapist at ICOFRM. Postgraduate trained in children's osteopathy. My relationship with the patient is always based on physiotherapy techniques that encompass the patient as a whole. And always with techniques based on what is established by the Public Health Code. I use osteopathy techniques as another tool within physiotherapy to prevent, cure or alleviate possible pathologies that patients may suffer from. And I would tell them to read resolution 2/2009 on the organization of osteopathy in the training and professional practice of physiotherapists.

And in what cases is it proven that osteopathy helps children?

In all the cases that come into my hands. In fact, word of mouth is the most important thing. If the parents see that after the treatment the objectives have been achieved (relieve colic, correct cranial deformations, improve congenital torticollis...), they will not hesitate to tell you and spread the word.

In which cases is it advisable to treat infant colic? Any or in severe cases?

In all. Colic is not a rigid pathology that occurs in the same way in all infants. There are a series of factors that can occur individually or together in each baby in a different way. The solution to your baby's infant colic will be determined by the presence or absence of any of these factors. So each baby will have an individual and personal treatment adapted to their physiology.

Now there is a line of pediatricians who say that infant colic does not exist, what do you think?

More or less what I said before. Colic is not a rigid disorder that has to meet a series of requirements to be diagnosed. It is true that we speak of colic when the baby has inconsolable crying and cries for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week and that persists for more than three weeks. It is also true that it is a temporary disorder, with an expiration date and benign. But if the word infant colic bothers them, let them call it whatever they want and instead ask those parents who suffer it in their flesh for several months whether it exists or not.

When is it good to introduce physiotherapy or osteopathy when a baby or child suffers from constipation?

The diagnostic criteria in children aged 0-4 years according to the National Health System establish that the baby or child suffers from constipation if he or she makes two or fewer bowel movements a week (if it were every 3-4 days we would already be talking about constipation). They also establish that this rule does not have to be followed and we would continue talking about functional constipation. I would recommend to parents that if the baby takes more than 2-3 days without having a bowel movement (if it is a newborn, sooner) or if after 2,3 or 4 days without doing so, the first poop he makes is very hard, that they bring it to me because it may only be a problem of peristalsis or dyschezia or a dyssynergy of the pelvic floor but it is treatable and has a quick solution.

What is the method to relieve children?

Very similar to the one we use for infant colic but more focused on the lower abdominal area and the end of the thick insemino. This constipation may be due to slowed peristalsis that must be activated, a lack of coordination in the muscles responsible for defecating, an alteration of the intestinal flora, nervousness... The maneuvers are focused on helping the evacuation of the intestine naturally and returning the body to its rhythm, which has been altered.

And for plagiocephaly: what treatment do you carry out and in what cases?

Deformations in the bones of the skull in a baby may be temporary due to instrumental manipulation during childbirth, due to poor fetal position, genetic predisposition, incorrect postural treatment at home... but the body may also need help to correct this situation. The treatment is completely manual, without applying any force and therefore completely painless or annoying. It is a longer treatment than that intended for digestive problems, but in most cases it is so effective that the use of an orthopedic helmet is not necessary, especially if we treat it in time (before the sutures and cranial fontanals begin to ossify).