sensory seeking and loose ligaments

[Guest guest]

Please hang in there for this long post to see my questions at the

end:

I just had an interesting conversation with a PT I thought might

benefit someone else here, esp. with all the sensory posts lately.

My son had his first PT evaluation a few days ago and she identified

loose joints. (I don't have the full written report yet, so forgive

me if my terminology is off.) Muscle tone is great, but he's

unbelievably flexible. He's duck walking in addition to toe walking,

and with his flat feet and knock knees, his ankles are starting to

turn down. She recommended orthotics. We have an appointment with a

pediatric orthopedist in an hour.

Here's where the conversation turned really interesting to me. She

said that it's possible that his sensory seeking is due in part to

the loose joints. She said it takes more input to those joints to

register movement and sensation, so he might be constantly arm

flapping and toe running and running and crashing in order to provide

input to the joints. She said the orthotics needed for his ankles

will make him more grounded, and will therefore provide more input

from his legs on up. She's hoping this will satisfy some of his

sensory issues.

I thought this was a completely different take on sensory issues that

I've ever heard and thought I'd throw it out here in case it gives

someone else something new to consider.

Here are my questions:

What " causes " loose ligaments and is there a biomedical remedy I can

pursue? I know carnitine is good for muscle tone, but ours is

specifically loose joints and not muscle tone.

Has anyone used orthotics? Do they help? Did they help with sensory

issues? Is there anything I should be wary of? Anyone have any good

sites for this kind of information?

Happy New Year to all.