Prevention and treatment of flatfoot in children

Run away from flat feet

Flatfoot is the most commonorthopedic pathology in pediatrics. It begins to develop quite early, even after eight months. At this age - and somewhere up to one and a half years - the child begins to get up, learns to walk. At this time, parents need to be especially careful. In no case should a child wear flat shoes - because “the wrong shoes” and causes flat feet in most cases. But you can massage the legs and carry out therapeutic exercises.Photos: GettyImages There are five simple rules that can help you avoid possible problems with your feet.

Flat shoes are contraindicated in children up to7 years. Experts recommend buying models with a small heel with a height of 1-1.5 cm. Try to choose shoes as comfortable as possible: if the shoes and sandals are cramped or just uncomfortable, leg deformations can develop.

Children need to maintain a mobile lifestyle in order to constantly get a load on their feet. It will be useful to record a child for swimming or gymnastics.

It is very useful to walk barefoot. In the summer it is very cool when the baby runs barefoot on the grass, earth, sand and pebbles.

One of the most effective exercises forprevention of flatfoot - raising heels. You need to stand on tiptoes, hold out for three seconds, and again stand on the whole foot. The baby will probably be bored, so you have to do with it. And all will be useful.

Be careful: flat feet are more common in overly plump children. Watch for weight.

Time to guard

Suppose prevention did not help. How to understand this? The baby’s foot and the baby’s shoes themselves will give you signals, just pay attention to them. So, it is worth guarding if:

The inside of the sole of a child’s shoe wears out faster.

When walking, the child spreads his legs wide, with a little bend in their knees, and the foot turns inside.

Feet acquire irregular shape, becoming wider.

The nails grow into the skin of the fingers, and the toes of the legs are bent

Calluses appear on the feet and fingers.

Legs get tired quickly.

For the diagnosis of flatfoot used in childrensuch a test: take a sheet of paper, grease the feet with bold cream or butter, then put the child on the sheet so that the weight of the body is distributed evenly over the entire foot. Consider the imprint - an important criterion is the size of the notch at the inner edge of the foot. In the event that it is absent or narrowed, flat feet can be suspected. But only an orthopedist can make a precise diagnosis. The fact is that at an early age all children have a physiological flat foot. All because of the fact that kids have a fat pad on the arch - this, of course, is not a pathology.Photo: GettyImages

Battle of the flying gait

"Caught" the problem on time - assume half the battledone by But still there is still a lot to do. So, declare war flatfoot. Our first friend and comrade is massage. It is better if the specialist will do it, but you can independently master this technique. Go!

Palm edge rub the foot of the child in the direction from the heel to the fingers.

Then, with a thumb, stretch the entire foot and, using only the pad of your finger, as if to draw the number 7.

“Draw” on foot 8.

Rub the gaps between the fingers, the upper side of the foot, shin in the lower part.

Gently rotate the foot in the ankle joint (rotational motion).

The second “whale” is therapeutic gymnastics. Exercises are very simple and easy. We roll a foot or a ball on the floor. We grab a small object from the floor using only the toes. We walk on socks and on heels. We walk duty and persistently, until the child’s legs get tired.4. We walk on the outer surfaces of the stop.5. We play with our fingers: bend and unbend them.6. We walk on a massage mat. You can buy it or make it yourself. It is simple: on a dense fabric, sew buttons, for example. This massage helps to improve muscle tone, improve blood circulation in the area of the foot.9. If you advise the orthopedist, buy orthopedic insoles. In extreme cases, have to wear orthopedic shoes. Also interesting: