Some children walk in or out with their feet. It is mostly due to changes in hip mobility and usually goes away by itself over time. Sometimes the forefoot may be twisted so that the toes point inwards. Then stretching exercises are often enough, but sometimes the foot may need to be plastered.
Most people who have problems with inward and outward feet do not need to seek care. The trouble usually goes by itself.
Inverted feet
Inverted feet can be more noticeable when the baby is tired and needs to go a longer distance. The child can then also complain about pain and fatigue in the legs. The inward twist can be so severe that the child has easy to stumble and then gets bruises on his knees and limbs.
Surveys
When examining the back, hip, knee, foot joints and thighs, lower legs and feet, the doctor usually discovers that the child’s ability to rotate the leg inward in the hip joint is much greater than the ability to rotate outward, which results in the feet pointing inward. The feet themselves are not wrong.
Sometimes the inward rotation can be due to one that the lower legs are slightly twisted or that the front of the feet is inclined. It can also depend on all three things at once.
Treatment of inverted feet
If the child is otherwise healthy, the foot posture is usually corrected by itself as long as the child is still growing. Very few adults walk with their feet inward.
Children who have an increased inward rotation ability in the hip joints are often sitting in reverse tailoring, that is, with their knees facing each other and the lower legs extended to the sides. It is usually most convenient. If the child has a problem with the foot posture, it is good to encourage it to sit in the usual tailoring position instead, so that the foot posture will be corrected eventually.
In exceptional cases, the rotation position in the hips can be adjusted with an operation just before the child has stopped growing. This is done if the inward twist has not grown away by itself and if the cause is a rotation in the femur. The procedure is large and demanding and should only be done in the event of an obvious misstatement.
Complications and sequelae
The inward rotation does not lead to an increased risk of osteoarthritis of the hip joints, knee joints or ankle joints. For the most part, children with twisted feet are usually able to run as fast and use their feet in the same way as other peers.
Inward facing foot
At the inward-facing front foot, the entire foot is bent so that the toes point inwards. The foot posture is usually congenital and visible already after birth. The misalignment can also come later, for example, if the child likes to lie on his stomach with his feet underneath so that the pressure on the outside of the foot causes the front foot to turn inward.
Treatment of inward-facing feet
Sometimes the wrong position can be corrected through regular stretches of the child’s foot. It is usually enough to stretch once a day. You usually get help already at BB by a physiotherapist, who can show how the stretches should go.
The foot can be treated with rails or repeated plaster if it cannot be stretched to a normal position. It is then best to continue with plaster a few weeks after the fault has been corrected, as there is otherwise a risk of the foot turning inward again.
Treatment with plaster or rail is rarely needed if the problems are not congenital but come later.
Regardless of the cause, the inward rotation usually grows away. During adulthood, the misalignment is adjusted by itself; there are almost no adults with an inward front foot.
In rare cases, the fault position is so obvious and difficult to adjust that operation becomes necessary.
Outstretched feet
Some children like to walk outward with their feet, and for the most part, this is because they have an increased outward rotation ability in the hip joints. As with inward feet, it is not a morbid condition and it usually grows away.
Children who are overweight sometimes walk out with their feet. This is because overweight gives a changed load on the hip joint ball so that it is directed more backward. This may involve an increased risk of hip arthroplasty, physiolysis.
When and where should I seek care?
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You should understand the information
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