Children often shout “foot tired”, “foot uncomfortable”, do not want to do more exercise, or have an abnormal arch, parents can take the child to the hospital for examination.

Medical Professionals warn that it is possible to correct an abnormal arch before the age of 16 with orthotic insoles and targeted training. But each child’s arch is different, even the left and right feet are very different, so like fitting glasses for myopia, to the hospital or professional institutions to check the child’s feet, lower limbs, or even pelvic condition, and then tailor-made orthotic insoles, you Can’t just buy it.

1. 70% to 80% of children have abnormal arch of Foot 

70% to 80% of primary and secondary school students have the problem of abnormal foot arch. Flatfoot is the most common type of foot arch abnormality in children. Flatfoot children have poor arches and limited backstretch of the metatarsophalangeal joint of the Big Toe, so when they walk, the calf and thigh muscles overwork to compensate, and the muscle energy consumption is relatively high, it’s easier to get tired. Flat feet are also prone to Plantar fasciitis, which can cause plantar pain. In addition, flat-footed children’s ankles (especially the outer ankle) more easily sprained, and as long as the sprained once, the chance of progress to habitual sprains will be greatly increased. Flat-footed children, are often valgus foot, which will lead to the medial foot, medial ankle, knee joint, and other under pressure, often lead to these parts of pain.

If the child walks, runs easily tired, often said foot pain, knee pain, often sprained ankle, often fell, gait is not good to suggest there is flat foot possibility, parents can take the child to the hospital for the necessary examination.

2. Girls aged 16 and boys aged 18 are expected to undergo correction 

If your child is diagnosed with flat feet, it is best to correct them as soon as possible. Boys have the opportunity to be corrected before the age of 18 and girls before the age of 16 because the lower limbs have not yet developed. The arch can be rebuilt by wearing a professional orthotic insole. In other words, a child’s flat feet can be cured and can be said to benefit the child for life. If you wait until your child is an adult to wear corrective insoles, they will only improve symptoms, not correct bone alignment. This is like the child’s eye myopia, when is false myopia stage, through rest and training can let the vision return to normal, but when the development of true myopia but need to wear glasses for a lifetime.

3. Orthotics must be custom made 

What is it about parents who know their child has flat feet and go online or to a shoe store to buy their child a ready-made pair of orthotic insoles to use?

Corrective insoles, like nearsighted glasses, are subject to rigorous fitting and customization. It turns out that flat feet can vary from child to child, and even the arch of the left and right feet of the same child can vary greatly (one foot is flat, the other is normal).

As mentioned above, children with flat feet often have problems with ingrown eight, Genu Valgus, hip rotation, and long and short legs, a child’s whole-body bone development will be assessed by a doctor during the fitting of orthotic insoles. The assessment will take 30-60 minutes. For example, children with long and short legs may have different insoles, so the orthotics must be tailored to fit the child’s foot, or the child’s arch will not be corrected, and may even aggravate the symptoms.

Just because you don’t have symptoms, doesn’t mean you don’t have problems!

A small percentage of children have flat feet, but they don’t appear to be uncomfortable, so parents don’t feel the need to correct them. Some children’s physical ability to compensate better or itself is not easy to move, so the symptoms are not obvious. Just because there are no symptoms, doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong. As children get older, when the body is unable to compensate, a variety of discomfort will appear, in adulthood neck-shoulder pain, low back pain, and other problems are likely to occur earlier than the normal population.

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