Kids Feet – What age should parents worry about their kid’s feet?

Kids Feet - What age should parents worry about their kid’s feet?

Pain (usually described as aching, throbbing or cramping) in the thighs, calves, behind the knee of one or both legs, or in the feet that occurs in the evening or night. These are the typical symptoms of ‘growing pains’. However, despite the name—there’s no evidence that growing is painful.

So what is causing your child’s pain?

Muscle overuse during the day is a likely cause of musculoskeletal pain at night. Muscle overuse can be caused by simple and common activities such as running, jumping, climbing or even standing for lengthy periods.

Common symptoms of activity-based musculoskeletal pain include:

  • Pain located in the lower limbs
  • Pain is isolated to lower limbs (legs, calves, ankles, feet)
  • Likely incidence of sport or activity within last 48 hours
  • Pain can worsen as child continues activity
  • Temporary relief may be achieved with pain relief medication, massage or heat packs

Treating ‘growing pains’

“Children suffering from ‘growing pains’ are commonly told, “they’ll grow out of it” or “just rest” — this advice is not only disappointing and frustrating for parents it is NOT A TREATMENT MODALITY,” says podiatrist and founder of A Step Ahead Foot + Ankle Care Dr Brenden Brown.

If the discomfort is linked to activity-based musculoskeletal pain, there are a myriad treatment options including:

  • Foot posture assessment
  • Soft tissue rehab therapy
  • Warm-up and training modifications
  • Progressive muscle loading
  • Prescription orthotics (ideally soft and pliable)

“The answer to ‘growing pains’ is that you don’t need to wait until your child outgrows the pain. The pain experienced is treatable with the right assessment and approach,” advises Dr Brenden.

A Step Ahead Foot + Ankle Care is based in Western Sydney. We have multiple practitioners with lots of experience in helping kids become pain free.

If you’d like more information please contact our helpful front desk team. They are brilliant at working through what help you need, guiding you to the appointment that is right for you or your family, running through cost and then reserving your appointment time. Call us today on +61 2 9673 2987 we look forward to helping.

Got a question about growing pains, musculoskeletal pain or any other foot or ankle concern? Visit us on Instagram#AskDrFoot @AstepAheadFootandAnkleCare or Facebook @podiatristsydney

 

Transcript

So, as a parent of a newborn or a little kid, it can be super confusing. There's stacks for us to know. One of the really confusing things that lots of parents ask me about is when do you need to start worrying about your kids’ feet? Is there a magical age? Well, first of all no, there's actually probably not. In this video, I'm going to run through a little bit of history about kids’ feet and how they develop, and then I'm going to talk to you about some really simple things that you can look for to make sure that your kids develop properly. But also, if they present with these signs or symptoms, you know to take them to see a qualified podiatrist and get some answers or some help straight away.

So, some brief history of how kids’ feet develop. When kids are born, they're really cute, chubby little feet. Around about the age of seven or nine is when we expect kids’ bones to ossify or harden and develop an arch. So, before the age of seven or nine, it' pretty normal for kids to have flat feet. So, you don't have to worry about flat feet until around about seven or nine. However, to make things tricky, because that's what we like to do to you parents out there, there's one caveat. And that is, if your child has flat feet and they have one of the following signs or symptoms, even before the age of seven, you should take them to see a very well-qualified foot doctor podiatrist that deals with children.

The first one is pain. Your child should never have pain in their feet. I personally don't believe in growing pains, and there's a great video that I've done on exactly why I don't believe in growing pains. You can check it out in the link below. But no child should have pain in their feet or while they're growing.

The next sign or symptom that you should be worried about is if your child trips, falls or is clumsy or, often said by Dads to me in kind of whispering: they're a little bit unco. If they're any of those things guess what? Again, you should take them to see a qualified podiatrist who has experience dealing with kids. Again, we've got a video talking about why that happens and what you can help do about that, so check out the link below.

Next, we talk about not wanting to do activity. If you've got pain in your feet or legs and often as kids we don't know how to express that or how do tell Mum and Dad that, and we often just find kids baulk or stop doing activity, so they might not want to walk with you at the end of the picnic when you guys are going for a long walk as a family, or they might not want to join their brothers and sisters in playing soccer in the backyard or at pre-school playing with the other kids. If they complain about that, want to be put in a shopping trolley, those sorts of things are all signs that there may be something else going on, and you should see a qualified podiatrist.

Now they're the signs and symptoms that you should look for if your child has problems. Growing pains or pain in their feet, tripping, falling clumsy, complaining about activity, any of those things, take them to see someone like me, a qualified podiatrist, a foot doctor who sees stacks of kids. That's right.

Again, we've got oodles of videos with links down below talking all about kids feet. Everything from how to choose the right school shoe, to choosing the right school shoe size, to heel pain, to growing pains and everything in between.

So, join me there and check it out. If you've got a question, post down below and we will get back to you. Remember, let's keep our kids happy, healthy and active. Bye for now.