The person foot is drafted for a lifetime of use and support. It can many times be the difference between an active and enjoyable life, or one crippled by discomfort and limitation. Fortunately, most people skills development only minor or temporary foot issues during their lifetime. The time in which the foot begins to develop during infancy and early childhood is vital to ensuring well feet during adulthood. This post shall discuss some regarding the ways parents can make sure that real foot development, and what to look out for that should indicate a developmental problem.
The development regarding the person foot begins within the embryo stage, and continues throughout the time we give within the womb. When a baby is born, all the components that a foot wants for real function are generally present, with the exception of multiple bones that are only cartilage at that point. Overall, the done infrastructure is there, and the foot wants only to strengthen, grow, and make bone over time. The body has an great ability to do this on it's own, and wants little external help. Parents do have the ability improve this development, and can play a role in assuring real development.
One regarding the simplest ways to help this development is to let the baby kick and move their legs. Leg strength, muscle development, and overall section of motion shall hold a positive effect on real foot function within the future, like a poorly functional leg shall lead to poor foot function. To help this motion, parents should hold their babies uncovered and unrestricted, allowing the legs to kick away. This improves and strengthens the hips, knees, ankles, and foot joints, and shall help muscle mass and coordination to grow. Likewise, little restriction should be placed on the feet at this stage.
Infants who do not walk do not need shoes for protection, as shoes can restrict the natural development regarding the foot structure and internal foot strength. During early infancy, the foot is still somewhat pliable, and poorly fitting shoes have the potential of causing foot deformity. Once walking begins, shoes should still be avoided for a brief while as the foot wants the compression regarding the direct ground to stimulate strength and structural stability development. Of course, when walking on rough or hazardous surfaces outside the home, the infant shall need shoes for protection. All walking within the security of building should be performed without shoes to promote real foot development.
When shoes should be worn, they need to be properly fitting, with enough space for the foot to fit without being too big. Trying to shove little foot into a tight shoe shall be harmful to development, and trying to use a large shoe 'to grow into' can lead to instability and injury. Walking should not be forced in an infant. There is no set age for the development of walking, as everyone reaches this wonderful milestone at different times. Parents should not use the timing of a sibling or a friend's child like a reference as to when their child should begin to walk, and basically need to let this process occur on its own, when the baby is ready.
Provided this, any lengthy delay in walking, for example 24 months, should prompt a health related evaluation to determine if there is a difficulty keeping the child from walking. This is unusual, however, and most parents should be patient and let their infant develop this ability on their own. Other than allowing for motion and reducing shoe restriction, a baby's foot is easy to like for. Nails should be regularly and carefully trimmed, and the skin should be kept sleek and dry. Socks should be worn when it is cold out, one should be careful to hold hair strands from wrapping around the little toes, like an extended piece of hair should potentially strangulate a toe if wrapped tight enough.
Sharp fabrics and warm objects like a space heater should be kept out of contact range. One regarding the biggest concerns parents have about their baby's feet are the presence of any deformities that shall lead to future problems. Serious deformities regarding the foot are uncommon at birth, and are typically noticed right subsequent to delivery within the hospital. Some deformities do take time to be noticeable, but the greatest significant ones are more immediately visible. Infants shall be born with a many different variations of foot deformities, most all of which are correctable.
These can with rotational deformities, for example clubfoot rotation regarding the foot inward or congenital calcaneovalgus or vertical talus rotation regarding the foot distant outward. Most of these deformities need immediate correction to prevent future debilitation, and are generally successfully cured with casting and bracing or early corrective surgery to release tight ligaments and return the foot to a real position. Extra toes are sometimes present, which shall be removed later on for cosmetic appeal or to make sure that real shoe fitting. Shortly subsequent to birth, a condition called metatarsus adductus shall be seen in which the foot takes on a c-shape, as the long metatarsal bones are rotated inward too far. This shall be corrected with casting, bracing, special shoes, or surgery if the deformity is not addressed until later on in childhood.
Some position of this deformity shall be regarded normal, consequently if it is noticeable externally it is likely within the abnormal range. Once the child begins to walk, sure deformities shall be seen that were not noticeable before. This includes heightened inward rotation of one regarding the legs, or fewer commonly heightened outward rotation. Also called in-toeing, this condition is not unusual. Most cases are basically due to uneven leg muscle development, and shall resolve on their own.
Some cases, however, are due to a deformity regarding the hip, the thigh bone, or the decreased leg bone, and need neither aggressive therapy and bracing to reduce the deformity, or surgery to de-rotate the involved bone. As the child begins to walk more, one concern many parents have is whether or not their child is flat-footed. All infants with normal foot structure have flat, flexible feet. The arch structure slowly develops as the foot strengthens. Within the beginning, babies walk flat-footed, and slowly reach normal arch structure as they begin to walk with a normal heel-to-toe walking pattern by age 4 or five.
If the foot seems excessively flat within the beginning, or if the arch is not forming, then the child should be flat-footed. This is not necessarily a deformity within the strict sense, but due to our society's need for shoe use to protect ourselves from environmental harm unlike general tribal cultures in natural environments, we tend to have weaker feet which do not accommodate well for flat feet later in life. Therefore, prescription arch supports are generally used in those with flat feet to prevent or slow future foot strain and deformities that shape out regarding the instability of flat feet, for example bunions and hammertoes. Some babies develop bunions and hammertoes very early, and these can even be seen during the infancy period in some cases. Corrective surgical treatment is generally delayed until the skeleton is more developed, and usually these deformities do not pose any early problems.
High arches are another deformity seen in childhood and infancy. This is not an uncommon deformity as the foot develops throughout childhood and adolescence, and generally only wants better shock absorption within the shoes. However, the presence of this deformity in infancy and early childhood many times accompanies birth defects involving the nervous system and muscular structure, consequently these diseases are many times noticed first. One final developmental cause for concern parents many times have is when their child walks on their toes. Toe walking, as it is known, is usually a benign habit that the child should be encouraged to break.
In this case, the child should be can stand flat on their feet, but chose neither consciously or subconsciously to walk with their heels off the ground. Constant reminders at building and physical therapy in some difficult cases shall be used to correct this. Other cases are due to actual structural problems, within tightness regarding the Achilles tendon, spasticity regarding the rear leg muscles, or neuromuscular disease. These causes need to be addressed individually, and shall need a many different variations of treatment that should with therapy, medication, surgery, or Botox injections. As one can see, a baby's foot is a remarkable thing, and usually develops just fine on it's own.
Parents are in a good position to encourage this development by following the above advice. Deformities that affect the foot's future ability to function properly are relatively uncommon in infants and young children, but shall be corrected in almost all cases when they can be present. Like a parent, one should be vigilant for any abnormalities, but also recognize that the young foot wants time to properly develop and grow, and many minor early developmental concerns many times correct themselves.
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