21 Sep Have you noticed that your little one is falling and tripping on themselves all the time

Have you noticed that your little one is falling and tripping on themselves all the time
Does your child tend to trip and fall over themselves more often when they are tired

If you answered YES to the above statements, then you probably have been concerned about the way your child has been walking and their foot posture as well. Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists see lots of toddlers and school aged children who come in with concerns about frequent trips and falls.

There are many possible causes for a child to be tripping and falling, the following are the top 3 common reasons why children trip and fall on themselves:

1. Your child’s foot is turned in or turned out, parents would refer to their child’s foot posture is being pigeon-toed or duck-footed. So when a child is walking fast or running, they either catch their own foot and trip or their foot catches on the floor tripping themselves over “nothing” on the ground.
2. Your child is not actively lifting their foot up to heel strike on every step because they either have decrease ankle range of motion or their shin muscles are not actively contracting to lift their foot up fully. As a result, they tend to slap their foot onto the ground and lift their foot off with their toes pointing downwards, missing foot clearance and tripping on their toes. 
3. Your child is effectively walking on their tip toes with their heels lifted off the ground, which causes their calf muscles to work too hard and fatigue easily. As such, your child tends to being tripping and falling more frequently when they are tired. 

The solution to each of these common causes is different and can include serial casting to correct foot postures, good supportive orthotic shoes to correct mid foot bone posture, Radial Shockwave Therapy to reduce muscle tightness and imbalance and Harnessed Treadmill Training to correct walking pattern.

So if you are concerned about your child tripping and falling frequently, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio today. Find out how our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists can help your child stop tripping and falling today!