17 Aug Concerned with your child’s tip toe walking  Check out Master B’s Story

Concerned with your child’s tip toe walking  Check out Master B’s Story
Master B has been walking on his tiptoes ever since he started walking at 18 months old. His parents were told repeatedly by various specialist clinics,”Don’t worry, he will grow out of it.” At 4 years old, he still hadn’t grown out of it.

Frustrated and distressed  with the condition of his feet, Master B’s parents finally managed to get a referral to see a Paediatrician, who immediately referred him to My Favourite Physio for an assessment.

When we saw Master B in clinic, his big toes on both feet turned in and had developed bunions from constantly walking on his tiptoes.There were calluses on the ball of his feet, his ankle joints were stiff and his calf muscles were over developed and tight. He could stand with his feet flat when asked to do so, but he immediately went into tiptoe walking to take a step.

Our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapist diagnosed Master B as having idiopathic tiptoe walking and not Cerebral Palsy, or Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The treatment plan was serial casting for 6-8 weeks to correct his feet position, stretch his calf and ankle muscles, and break the habit of tiptoe walking, followed by a block of physiotherapy intervention to strengthen his leg muscles and correct his walking pattern. He will require customised orthotics to maintain the correction of his big toes and foot arches after casting.

The treatment time for Master B is unfortunately more prolonged than usual for toddlers with tiptoe walking, because he had been walking on his tiptoes for almost 2 years. Master B’s foot bones were more deformed, with his big toes turned in, which would not have been the case if he was seen earlier at 2 years old.

If your toddler is tiptoe walking, don’t wait and hope for him to grow out of it, because many times they don’t just grow out of it. Instead, they get stronger at tiptoe walking and cause more damage to their feet bones. If your toddler is tiptoe walking, act now and let us help you to correct your child’s foot problems, ring us on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to make an appointment to see our Paediatric Physiotherapist today.