Having strong, healthy feet allows your child to walk, run, and play. If your child's feet form correctly, certain types of back and leg pain can be avoided later in life. An examination of the lower extremity insures that your child is growing correctly. Your doctor can also make sure that your child is walking correctly. This helps prevent some future foot problems, and if a problem does arise, it can be handled early, when it is easier to treat. 

Not all feet are created equal! Some feet seem to take much abuse without complaining, many are not so lucky. The human foot contains about 26 bones and numerous joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons. It is a complex structure which isn't always ideally suited to weight-bearing and ambulation. We all have unique feet, and place unique demands upon them. The average person takes about 5000 steps a day, and walks 50,000 miles in a lifetime! Our lifestyle, what shoes we wear and how active we are, clearly affect our risk of foot problems.

All feet are different, but most fall into three basic types:

"Normal" (Rectus) Foot- Structure and alignment of the foot are well configured for the demands of daily living. Excessive wear, exceptional demands or improper shoes can make this foot injured or painful.

• Flat (Pronated) Feet - This is one of the more common problems treated. These people are prone to develop tired feet, arch strain, arthritis, and various structural deformities.

• High Arched (Supinated or Pes-Cavus) Foot - This type of foot is poor at absorbing shock. These people are prone to problems of the entire lower extremity and back. Such feet often develop severely clawed toes and extensive plantar calluses.

Having strong, healthy feet allows your child to walk, run, and play. If your child's feet form correctly, certain types of back and leg pain can be avoided later in life. An examination of the lower extremity insures that your child is growing correctly. Your doctor can also make sure that your child is walking correctly. Does your child always sit while others play actively? If you child's feet turn in or out a lot, corrective shoes may be prescribed. Wearing them corrects and helps the foot as it grows.

While walking some children have the tendency to do so like a swan. i.e.: their feet pointed inwards. This is the Swan Walk or Toeing In. Some others have the tendency to walk like Charlie Chaplin : their feet pointed outwards . This is Toeing Out.

Very often, children have the tendency to stand with their knees joined and their ankles spaced. This is called Knock Knees. The opposite is when they stand with their ankles joined and their knees spaced. This is called Bowed Legs.

All these deformities can be treated with our unique Medical Children Boots, available in three different widths for each size.

Particular attention has to be paid to the heel:

Look for and insist on a Thomas Heel

The Thomas Heel is a medically designed heel to correct feet deformities, like flat feet and pronated feet for which the arch support is not sufficient.
The Thomas Heel is a simple extension of the heel that makes all the difference in the correction.
Thomas Heels (in black) are irreplaceable for the Flat Feet correction.
The foot, over-pressuring on the plantar arch will find the adequate correction for it's repositioning, a correction we cannot find in shoes with regular heels (in grey).

Heel Supination

The Heel Supination is indicated for the correction of Highly Pronated feet and for the Knock Knees

It is an additive thickness on the inner side of the heel, forcing the foot to be repositioned adequately.

The 26 bones of the foot are nothing but numerous joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons when born, and are entirely formed around the age of 18. This is why the shoes children wear in their youth are vital for this formation and for their entire life afterwards.

We all have unique feet, and place unique demands upon them. The average person walks the equivalent of 5 times around the earth in a lifetime! It is our duty to take care of them and offer them the best possible conditions today, to be sure they'll be here when we need them at the age of 80.

Having strong, healthy feet allows your child to walk, run, and play. With a little care your child's feet can form correctly, and certain types of back and leg pain can be avoided later in life. These small attentions in their youth will be nothing but a great investment for their future.

What The Scientists Say

"The anatomical architecture of the foot is similar to building blocks: When assembled properly, the blocks are uniquely capable of supporting extreme loads for extended periods of time.

Ages 30 months through age 14, present a significant need for external support during the development of the internal architecture of the arch.

With increased arch support and good shoes, these children usually experience less fatigue, which enables them to engage in functional and athletic activities with greater endurance and fewer complaints in general."

Dr Eric Lauf
The Journal of Biomechanics
April 1998