Children’s
feet changes with their growth. There are some common feet conditions that can
seriously affect children and should be taken care of by a professional
specialized in podiatry inCrawley (if you are a resident of Crawley) to ensure
that the problem doesn’t get worse making their activities painful.
Some
common feet issues of children may include,
- Flat feet
- Ingrown toenails
- Corns and callus
Flat feet
Many
infants by birth appear flat-footed. But usually this disappears as the baby
starts standing and walking. Children with the problem of flat feet and/or low
arches might not be able to perform usual chores like other children due to
added strain on legs as well as feet.
Causes
– There is no remedy to give a child an arch if they have a flat feet. But
there are some children who have that normal arch but flatten as they stand.
This is medically known as pronation. This may result in a number of painful
issues, make the child get tired easily or face problem with basic motor
skills. Orthotic devices may come handy, if the child is pronating his/her
feet; it would help to improve the foot movement and relieve painful symptoms
as well.
Flat
feet can be treated with orthotics. Such devices provide proper foot support.
They are usually made of plastic and should be reconstructed as a child grows.
The device helps the user realign the foot and distribute his/her body weight
evenly. Orthodontics can be used for a variety of reasons including poor
stability, pain and gross motor issues. But they are not simple-arch supports
and have to be tailor-made according to the shape and size of the feet of every
individual user.
Ingrown toenails
This is
very common among foot problem in children that podiatrists always recommend to
get treated. Ingrown toenails can be severely painful and due to the
apprehension of surgery, people, especially the children don’t want to get
treated until the nail reaches a chronic state. Not all ingrown toenails need a
surgery but conservative measures must be taken and that means the children
must be taken for a visit to a podiatrist at a regular interval. And if surgery
is the only option, it can be done in the doctor’s room, without a hospital
stay. It takes no more than an hour for the procedure to be done.
Corns and callus
The
body skin can protect itself from the pressure by growing quicker than it
should otherwise take. It forms a thick outer layer. But sometimes if the
pressure is too high, the outer layer becomes too thick that it looks and acts
like a foreign body on the skin. This is commonly known as a callus. A focus of
pressure within callus may occur and that can cause a hard skin plug known as a
corn.
Causes
– Both corns and calluses are caused when the body’s protective mechanism works
wrongly. Since the corns and calluses form on the dead surface of the skin,
they have no root.
Irrespective
of the issues, you must consult a professional specialized in podiatry to get the issue of your child properly
diagnosed and thus perfectly treated.
