How to get rid of clubfoot in a child

"Bear-toed in the forest goes ...". How often do we read this verse to our children and do not even think about why a bear is a kosolapit and whether this is the norm for him. Fancy walking wagging from side to side is not only an aesthetic defect. If the club foot is not treated, it can lead to severe curvature of the spine and other bone tissues. But how to distinguish the clubfoot from the individual characteristics of the gait? We will understand in order.

What is clubfoot

Clubfoot is a disease in which the foot is deformed. The foot is turned inward. The degree of deformity can be different, only an orthopedic surgeon can diagnose a clubfoot. Strong clubfoot occurs infrequently - in one child per thousand newborns. However, minor deviations can be diagnosed quite often - in 12 percent of toddlers.

Today, clubfoot is successfully treated and corrected. In the treatment of this disease, it is important to understand that the sooner the therapy starts, the greater the effect can be obtained from it. Modern medicine advises starting correcting the position of the foot from the week of age. The treatment of adults is much longer than the treatment of children, because it is very difficult to straighten the formed rigid bone to the desired position. It takes time and patience to completely get rid of clubfoot.

Causes of clubfoot

Clubfoot is congenital and acquired. Congenital clubfoot is more common and is found in infancy. In the first weeks of a child’s life, his bone tissues are very soft and elastic, so by starting treatment in the early stages, you can completely correct the shape of the foot. Congenital clubfoot appears even in the womb for some reason.

1. Mechanical pressure or incorrect position of the baby in the uterus. If the uterus is quite narrow, and the child has rested against the wall of the uterus with the leg, then its foot gradually deforms, the blood circulation in this limb deteriorates and the bone tissues change their shape.
2. Improper development of neuromuscular tissue.If for some reason the child’s nervous system has been disturbed, deformity of the bones and joints may also occur. This effect can also give a toxic effect on a child from a drug drunk by a pregnant woman.
3. Genes can also cause clubfoot. Heredity plays a significant role in this.

There is also acquired clubfoot, which is more common in adults.

• Changing the shape of the foot due to injury. This clubfoot is most often treated with surgery.
• Diseases of the bones that are associated with the destruction of bone tissue.
• Severe burns of the legs and feet.
• Diseases of the nervous system associated with loss of ability to move, such as paralysis.

Types of clubfoot

The clubfoot can be one-sided and two-sided depending on whether one foot is affected or both. Also, clubfoot is divided into two large classifications:

1. Typical clubfoot characterized by four main forms - equinus, varus, adduction, supination. Each of these cases is detected by a special algorithm for measuring the angles of inclination and rotation of the lower leg and foot.
2. Atypical clubfoot - This is a more complicated case, when a skin fold is formed between the heel and the rest of the foot. The foot itself with an atypical clubfoot is short and plump.

How to get rid of clubfoot in a child

A pronounced club foot can be seen almost immediately after the birth of the baby. Hidden or minor clubfoot notice only after the child begins to walk. In any case, treatment should begin as early as possible. Only a full range of therapeutic measures can give an effective result.

1. With severe clubfoot, a small child is placed in plaster boots that bring the shape of the foot as close to healthy as possible. To do this, before gypsum legs carefully kneaded. Then the legs from foot to maple plaster and give them the correct shape. In such a cast, the child should be a week, after which the procedure is repeated. The second time the period of wearing gypsum is doubled. And so on until the legs are completely healthy.
2. When a child begins to walk, he should wear orthopedic shoes. It is quite tough and uncomfortable, but such shoes bring the foot to the correct position. Orthopedic shoes consist of a rigid back and a hard sole.It must have an instep. Orthopedic shoes must be worn constantly, in difficult cases even at home and during sleep. Of course, such shoes bring discomfort, because the tendons stretch, but long-term wearing gives a good result. Orthopedic shoes are selected only by a doctor.
3. For the treatment of clubfoot children prescribe a massage. It consists of kneading and stretching the tendons in the right places. Such a massage should be performed only by experienced massage therapists. All massage movements are reduced to stretching the tendons of the inner side of the foot and strengthen the muscles of the leg. All positions are fixed for 10-15 seconds.
4. For older children there is a set of exercises that they should do regularly several times a day. The very first exercise is walking on your toes with your heels apart. The second exercise is walking on the inside of the foot for 10 minutes. Another effective exercise - rolling foot rolling.
5. For warming up the muscles and getting the best results before the massage, children are prescribed physiological procedures. They include electrophoresis, paraffin baths and magnetic therapy.
6. In difficult cases, the treatment complex is supplemented with medicines. Usually these are drugs that improve the neurological permeability.
7. If the baby’s socks are looking inside while with a club foot, you can use the following tip. Wear shoes on the contrary, that is, the left shoe on the right foot and the right shoe, respectively, on the left foot. This way you can “teach” the baby’s legs to look straight.

How to get rid of adult clubfoot

The treatment of an adult is not much different from the treatment of a child. However, in the case of an adult patient, we will need three times more time and patience, because the bones of an adult person are already formed and difficult to change. You can diagnose a clubfoot just by looking at the shoes. If it is erased only on the outer edge - it's time to see a doctor.

1. Wearing orthopedic shoes is required. Women should forget about high heels and flat soles. Proper orthopedic shoes have a heel of about 2 centimeters. You must immediately buy shoes for all seasons because temporary wear will not give any result.
2. For physical therapy, the most suitable gymnastic stick.On it you need to walk up and down. Very useful against clubfoot walking on a tightrope. This exercise helps to strengthen the muscles of the entire ankle.
3. If the cause of clubfoot is an abnormal accretion of bones after an injury, surgery is usually resorted to.

Preventive measures

Prevention measures are needed not only for healthy people, but also for those who got rid of clubfoot, but no longer want to return to this problem. Here are the basic rules.

1. If you do not want to treat your child for various deformities of the feet, do not save on shoes. You can not wear shoes larger or smaller, do not buy shoes "for growth". When choosing children's shoes, pay attention to whether in the presented instance there is a hard closed backdrop (even in summer models), an instep support and a clear fixation of the sock. This applies not only orthopedic, but also ordinary shoes for a healthy child.
2. Walk more often barefoot on uneven surfaces - grass, stones, asphalt. It is very useful and pleasant.
3. In order not to acquire a club foot, you need to exercise regularly. The best sports against clubfoot is swimming and cycling.

Clubfoot is a problem that can be eliminated. We have presented you a full range of measures that will allow you to eliminate the clubfoot of any degree. To do this you need a long time and exposure. But after your feet become healthy, and the gait is even, no one will guess that once you were treated for such an illness.