At Edinburgh Sports Injury Clinic, patient safety and trust are at the heart of everything we do. Whether you’re attending for rehabilitation, pain management, or ongoing care, you deserve complete confidence in the professionals supporting your or your loved one’s health journey. That’s why we are proud to operate with full Disclosure Scotland accreditation, with all of our therapists who work with vulnerable groups approved through the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme.
A child’s physiology and anatomy is different in many ways from an adult.
Here are 10 differences:
1) When a baby is born there are still gaps in the bones of the skull. The shape of the head can therefore be altered by constant pressure on it especially if the baby is always lying the same way in a cot.
Vitamin K and clotting factors are less in a newborn. Newborns are often given a vitamin K injection straight after birth.
2) The nerve endings in the retinas are not fully developed so blurred images and shapes are seen in the first few weeks of a baby’s life. A baby will generally only start to smile at you when he clearly sees you smiling. This may take a couple of weeks.
3) At birth a baby has approximately 300 bones. They are formed mainly by a soft, flexible material called cartilage. As a child grows the cartilage is replaced by bone and some bones fuse together. By adulthood (approximately 25 years of age) there are only 206 bones in the body. Being active and having a healthy diet assists with this process. At the same time however when playing certain sports, protective equipment should be used. For example:
- A helmet during bike and horse riding, skateboarding and rock climbing.
- Wrist supports, elbow and knee pads as falling is a possibility.
- Shin guards for hockey and football.
4) Children have proportionately a larger body surface area than adults. They can lose heat quicker. Their heads are proportionately larger than an adult, and as most heat is lost through the head, it is more important that a child wears a hat in cold weather. It is also one of the reasons that a new born baby is given a hat to wear.
Babies and infants also have a small amount of subcutaneous fat. They do not have the same ability as adults to sweat and shiver. Young children are therefore heavily dependent on adults to control their body temperature.
5) This also works in the opposite way. A child can be prone to overheating and dehydration in a warm climate. Water absorption in the alimentary canal is also reduced. When on hot summer holidays always make sure your child has enough water to drink. Try to encouraging them to drink more than normal. By the time they feel thirsty, dehydration has begun.
6) Children have much smaller airways but a larger tongue. This increases the chance of respiratory difficulties
For the first 6 months a child will tend to breathe through their nose. This can make a cold and a blocked nose very dangerous.
Tonsils and adenoids grow very quickly in children. Infection here can cause swelling and can restrict the movement of air in the smaller trachea, making the condition of tonsillitis very dangerous.
7) Very young babies can’t cry as the gland responsible for tears (lacrimal gland) has not properly developed.
8) The metabolic rate of a baby is far greater than an adult therefor so is the production of carbon dioxide.
9) The breathing rates, for age, are on average (per minute):
- babies: 30- 40
- toddlers: 20-40
- young children: 20-30
- older children: 15- 20
- adults: 10-15
10) The heart rate of a baby is much greater than that of an adult, whereas their systolic blood pressure is very low compared to their parents. As a child grows the heart rate gets slower and the systolic blood pressure rises. A boy’s heart rate is generally slower than a girl’s, and this is pattern is shown throughout all ages.
Here is a summary of the average measurements
Beats per minute
Under 1 year: 120
2 years: 110
4 years: 100
8 years: 90
10 years: 90
14 years: 80
16 years: 75
adult: 72
Systolic measurement
Under 1 year: 85-105
2 years: 95-105
4 years: 95-110
8 years: 95-100
10 years: 100-120
14 years: 110-130
16 years: 110-130
adult: 110-130
Building Trust Through Transparency
We understand that choosing a physiotherapy provider is about more than clinical expertise – it’s about feeling safe, respected, and cared for. Our Disclosure Scotland accreditation and PVG-compliant team reflect our unwavering commitment to safeguarding every individual who walks through our doors.
At Edinburgh Sports Injury Clinic, we also demonstrate a strong commitment to professional standards through our other memberships and affiliations with several leading industry bodies. These include the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, which represents physiotherapists across the UK, and the Health and Care Professions Council, the statutory regulator ensuring practitioners meet strict standards of training and practice. The clinic is also affiliated with Physio First, a respected organisation supporting chartered physiotherapists in private practice, as well as the Scottish Manual Therapists Organisation and the Association for Soft Tissue Therapists, both of which promote high-quality manual and soft tissue therapy techniques. Together, these affiliations reflect the clinic’s dedication to maintaining clinical excellence, adhering to regulatory standards, and staying aligned with best practices in physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
When you choose our Clinic, you’re choosing a team that prioritises your wellbeing at every level – not just in treatment, but in trust.
