16 Nov Feeling lost as to what to do to correct your child’s toewalking
Noticed that toewalking is causing your child’s toes to curl and foot to turn resulting in bunions
Did you know that Serial Casting can help correct your child’s toewalking
Some children toewalk right from the first moment they learn to stand up bcause they were using a Baby Walker very often when they were little.Some children toewalk because they have increased muscle tone in their legs. Some children toewalk because they have sensory issues as part of other conditions. Regardless of the reasons why your child toewalks, the resulting problem from toewalking long term is the same, the calf muscles becomes very tight, the foot and ankle bones start to form abnormally and eventually the knee joints, hip joints and lower back joints become affected and lead to knee pain, hip pain, back pain, frequent trips and falls as well as delayed gross motor skills when it comes to running, hopping, skipping and jumping.
Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists have seen many children who present with toewalking at ages ranging from 18months old to 13 years old, and have been able to successfully help them overcome toewalking using Serial Casting. Serial Casting involves casting the legs with a combination of plaster of paris and fibreglass cast to create short leg casts that a child can walk on. The aim of the cast is to stretch the calf muscles to increase the ankle range of motion to get the heel down to the ground. Casts are usually changed every week with each cast increasing the calf muscle stretch to increase the ankle range of motion. After Serial Casting, every child will undergo an individualised tailored programme to teach them how to walk properly with their heel down and to build up strength in their calf muscles to learn to run, hop, skip and jump.
To learn more about Serial Casting for toewalking or to find out if toewalking is suitable for your child, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today.