If you’ve just become a new parent, life has suddenly become full of wonderful surprises. Making sure your child grows up happy and healthy will be one of your priorities and keeping track of your child’s foot health is important. So, what can you expect?
Unlike an adult’s, a newborn’s feet will be much more padded and flexible allowing for the growth of bones and…
“Get up on your toes” is a figure of speech urging you to prepare to start something energetically. But when your child appears to be walking on tiptoe most of the time, you sense that something isn’t quite right.
Many parents fear something dire is going on, whether it might be tightness of the Achilles tendons in need of intensive physical therapy, surgery or some…
Down syndrome also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features and mild to moderate intellectual disability. Symptoims which can affect foot function and, therefore, the lives of those affected is hypotonia (low muscle tone) and ligamentous laxity.
How…
A common concern that parents have when they come in to see us at The New Jersey Children’s Foot Heath Institute, is Pigeon Toeing or Intoeing. This means that when they walk or run, the one or both feet point inward, toward the other, rather than straight ahead.
However, you don’t need to be alarmed just yet! When children first begin to walk, their muscles…
While not very common, babies can have birth defects related to the feet. Many of them can be due to developmental issues, but others can have hereditary factors that cause the problem. When infants’ feet show to have rigid in-toeing, it’s likely that they have what’s called metatarsus adductus. This occurs when the bones in the front half of the foot curve in toward the…
In about 1 in 1000 live births in the US, babies can be born with a deformity called Clubfoot. The infant’s foot can be turned inward or twisted out of shape. This birth defect, in which babies are born with short tendons, can affect the muscles in the feet, ankles, and calves. Doctors can identify clubfoot upon inspection shortly after birth, which can help increase…
Is your sporty child complaining of pain in the heel? Is there swelling or redness in the heels? Discomfort when you squeeze both sides of the heel? He or she may be suffering from Sever’s Disease, or calcaneal apophysitis. It is a heel bone disorder caused by inflammation of the growth plate, a condition commonly found in children ages 8-15 who play sports. Children in…
Whenever possible, it is best to address disease or other health issues as soon as they develop. In the case of childhood obesity, actions taken as soon as possible will reduce the risk of poor health outcomes later in life. More immediately, the important factor to address is the fact that obesity can affect developmental growth and cause pain or deformity as your child grows.…
Did you know that children and babies are the most likely to have a bone infection? Their growing bones have a larger supply of blood as they develop, making them more susceptible to infections that are carried through the blood. The bacteria are most often found to be Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph infection, and can come from other infections. Other common bacterial strains…
As children begin to walk, their strides and postures may worry new parents. In their novice stages of walking, babies will show all kinds of characteristics, like waddling, standing or walking on tiptoes, or having bowlegs. Don’t worry though, because most of this can be normal in the early stages of walking.
Below are some things you may notice, and why they happen:
Bowlegs: Because…