My Child Has Flat Feet – What Should I Do?

With the start of a New Year and the end of all the holiday parties and family get togethers people start to focus on getting themselves in shape and healthy for 2010. Keeping your feet healthy in 2010 will definitely help to keep you happy for the year. Below are ten facts you should know about your feet in 2010 in order to keep your body health and happy the entire year. Your feet are the base that supports your entire body. Make sure that you keep your feet healthy in 2010 in order to ensure that your can do all the activities you are looking forward to this year. Calcium deposits can be extremely painful and can develop in any part of the body from the neck to the toes, causing hardening of bones and soft tissues. Calcium deposits are most common in joints and areas of previous injury to bones or muscle. They first develop as a substance similar to toothpaste then eventually dry into a chalky substance. The result is pain when moving the body part where the deposit has settled. There are several ways to handle and treat calcium deposits. A cyclops lesion is a complication of an ACL reconstruction surgery where there is scar tissue that inhibits full range of motion of the knee joint. Deep infrapatellar bursitis presents with fluctuance and swelling that obliterate the depression on each side of the patellar tendon overlying the tibial tuberosity. Loss of full flexion and extension generally is observed. The adventitious cutaneous bursa may be palpable as a swelling over the tibial tuberosity (adventitial bursae are those formed later in life through degeneration and do not have an endothelial lining). Semimembranosus tendonitis also can occur with running or cutting activities. This tendonitis is characterized by swelling over the posteromedial aspect of the knee and tenderness with resisted flexion or valgus strain. An insertional enthesopathy of the semimembranosus muscle also has been described. Congenital vertical talus — Although surgery usually can correct poor alignment of foot bones, many children with congenital vertical talus have underlying disorders that cause muscle weakness or other problems that interfere with full recovery. Tarsal coalition — When shoe modifications are not effective, casting may help. When surgery is necessary, the prognosis depends on many factors, including which bones are fused, the specific type of surgery and whether there is any arthritis in the foot joints. Have the athlete sit, extend their leg, bring their foot and toes towards their head. Peel backing off one end and apply first strip to the balls of the foot with no tension. The term flatfoot is not a medical term, but is often used to describe a foot with a flattened or lowered arch. The arches of normal feet can be of varying height, so it is possible to have a relatively normal foot with a low arch. A normal foot with a low arch rarely requires treatment. Pes plano valgus is the medical term that refers to an abnormal foot due to a flattened arch, a rolled-in appearance of the ankle, and a heel that appears to be rolled-out from under the ankle. Pes plano valgus feet may require treatment – more on this later. The examination varies according to the age of the child. For the first four to five days after birth, the foot lies in an acutely dorsiflexed position with the top of the foot in contact with the anterolateral surface of the leg. The heel is in dorsiflexion, and the forefoot is markedly abducted. When the foot is plantar-flexed, a concavity appears in the sinus tarsi area with the overlying skin becoming taut with attempted plantar-flexion. In more severe cases, the foot cannot initially be plantar-flexed much beyond neutral. Overall, however, the foot is flexible and both the heel and the forefoot can be passively corrected into varus. Sclerotherapy is a medical procedure that treats unsightly varicose veins and so-called spider veins by shrinking them. Patients commonly wear compression stockings following sclerotherapy to promote healing. In June 2007, the "Journal of Vascular Surgery" reported that healing with compression stockings worn for three weeks after sclerotherapy achieved greater masking of veins than without stockings. Range of motion determines how far your joints can be moved in a particular direction. Having your patient perform range of motion exercises every day can increase flexibility in his or her joints, and reduce stiffness. Some patients can perform range of motion exercises without help, while others will need the assistance of a caregiver. Recreational runners tend to have a lower cadence of 165 steps per minute compared to 180-192 of more experienced runners. If you find yourself at the lower end of the cadence spectrum, shorten your stride and increase your cadence. To determine your optimal cadence consider a gait analysis by an experienced physical therapist, coach or running shoe sales person. Proper technique is important and can be learned with any movement or sport. Because a tight calf can overstretch and thereby inflame the anterior tibialis (muscle), one solution to alleviate medial tibial stress syndrome is to stretch the calf so that it stops putting permanent stress on the anterior tibialis.

Running Hurts The Inside Of My Foot

Dehydration occurs when someone loses enough water to prevent the body from functioning properly. Severe dehydration can cause high potassium levels (hyperkalemia), which are dangerous if immediate treatment is not given. The medical term for a toothache is odontalgia. A person is considered to have a toothache whenever there is pain in or around a tooth. There are several reasons a person may experience a toothache. Cavities, gum disease, and an infection can all cause tooth pain. If you are suffering from a toothache resulting from an infection, there are some home remedies you can try to reduce the infection and the pain. Flexible flat feet generally do not require any treatment at all. Special shoes, shoe inserts and exercises do not lead to flat foot correction. For children younger than eight, physicians tend to recommend observation only. Doctors may recommend orthotics (shoe inserts) for middle- or high school-aged children with pain which seems to be due to flat feet. Orthotics provide support to the arch of the foot and decrease the amount of pronation (ankles rolling inward). Pes planus (also called flat foot ) is a deformity of the foot where the longitudinal arch of the foot is abnormally flattened. Pathology Hubby has the flexible type of flat foot that began in his childhood and is continuing in adulthood. Flexible flat foot means that while the foot is flat when standing in a full weight bearing position, a bit of an arch is noticable when not standing. However, if hubby is too tired due to standing the whole day at work in his office laboratory, then the arch is totally absent even when he is not standing. The amount and degree of this motion (or lack of) is a major factor in determining if a particular foot type should be evaluated, and possibly treated, by a foot specialist. Sinus tarsi syndrome is often a clinical finding observed in people affected by trauma to the foot or poor foot biomechanics. The best way to lower the incidence of this condition is to seek medical assistance for proper treatment of ankle sprains or other injuries. Correction or treatment of structural foot abnormalities will go a long way in lowering the risk of this foot problem. This group has devices that offer relief to minor pains and foot injuries. They are usually used to correct problems in children. The devices include night bars and splints. They offer support and promote adjustments for minor abnormalities. Cervical discectomy and cervical fusion are two surgical techniques designed to address pain and instability in the bones (vertebrae) of the neck. Surgeons frequently use the two procedures in combination. Diseases of the spine are more common than you might think. There are several forms of bone diseases of the spine that range from mild to life threatening. These diseases can occur at any time in your life from inherited factors, age and environment. Spine diseases can also occur spontaneously without any particular causes. These factors make it vitally important to be aware of different spine diseases and how they can affect your health. Taping and self-massage with the use of a tennis ball can also be helpful. Icing will help reduce inflammation and pain and the use of a night splint may be indicated. During sleep our feet typically assume a pointed (plantar flexed) posture, which is a shortened position for the plantar fascia. When the alarm goes off and we get out of bed and flex the foot in the other direction (dorsiflexion), we put an immediate stretch on the plantar fascia. Night splints help maintain the dorsiflexed posture so that the plantar fascia isn't as stressed when you get out of bed. High arches tend to be the more prevalent of midfoot dysfunctions. They occur due to significant shortening of the soft tissues of the medial longitudinal arch. Often, this is a trained response to the types of shoes we wear. For years, shoe manufacturers have increased the amount of arch support, especially in running shoes. However, more is not always better. The increase in support leads to weakening of the muscles as they no longer have to work to support the arch. The other soft tissues, such as ligaments and fascia, will shorten because of the prolonged posturing due to the arch support. The flat foot, also called pes planus , is pronated with a flattened longitudinal arch.The hindfoot may be in valgus. Occasionally, there is an associated accessory navicular bone. In this congenital deformity, the ossification center of the navicular tuberosity fails to fuse to the main bone and remains a bony prominence on the medial side of the foot. These are often locally symptomatic and require protection or surgical excision. Usually the original onset of a flat foot problem creates restrictions in the foot functional activity and with the introduction of different artificial support systems, such as foot orthodics, this problem is temporarily moved aside, but not solved.