As a parent, the most important concern is the health of the child, and flatfoot is a symptom of many children, (also known as flatfoot syndrome) flatfoot, if not corrected in a timely manner, is not conducive to the healthy growth of children. So what are the dangers of flat feet? And how should it be prevented and treated? This is an issue of great concern to everyone, and today I will discuss these two issues with you.
People usually call flat feet (also called flatfoot syndrome), refers to the collapse of the arch of the foot, destroying the normal arch structure, so that the natural elasticity of the foot is reduced. Flatfoot syndrome can be classified according to different classification criteria as flexible flatfoot and rigid flatfoot; symptomatic flatfoot and asymptomatic flatfoot; congenital flatfoot and acquired flatfoot; pediatric flatfoot, adolescent flatfoot and adult flatfoot, etc. After the initial understanding of flatfoot, we will move on to the subject of two questions.
The first problem is the danger of flat feet
1, if the baby has flat feet, it will lead to plantar fasciitis, plantar pain, Achilles tendonitis, knee tendonitis, hip tendonitis, bunion, Achilles’ tendonitis, back pain and even neck pain and other symptoms.
2, easy to cause heel injury. Because people with flat feet walk in a figure of eight, toes facing outward, the outside of the heel and the inside of the sole are prone to wear and heel injuries.
3, people with flat feet can not walk or exercise for a long time. If you walk or overact for a long time, it is easy to cause inflammation of the soft tissues of the foot due to overuse, and pain caused by improper force on the joints.
4, flat feet may also affect the normal development of the crestal spine. This is because the flat feet lack of arch support, so that the navicular bone collapse, ligament elongation of the sole of the foot, coupled with the impact of uneven pressure, the heel rotates inward when walking, affecting the heel, the lower leg and knee, because the ligaments on both sides of the joint are affected by different tension, so that the knee inward bending, resulting in functional short legs, further affecting the pelvis, so that the thigh and pelvic frame tilt rotation, so that the pelvis or tail vertebrae downward, forming the crestal spine side-bending, leading to sloping shoulders.
How to prevent and treat the second problem
Flatfoot is only easily detected when the arch of the foot develops in children between the ages of 6 and 9. If left untreated, children with flat feet are more likely to develop arthritis and other foot problems later in life. Many children eventually develop symptoms such as calf pain and walking fatigue, but for those who don’t feel much on their own, parents should pay more attention to whether their child’s arches are too flat and whether their ankles are bent inward.
1.Surgical treatment
At present, it is not very common, and there are certain surgical risks. It is best to go to a large hospital to find an experienced foot and ankle surgeon. Surgical correction is mainly for congenital severe patients to improve the quality of life.
2, appropriate exercise can reduce flat feet
Children’s feet to healthy development, exercise is very important. In recent years, the problem of children’s flat feet than in the 1980s rose by about 20%, such an obvious upward trend, one of the main reasons is the lack of exercise for children. Children should do more exercises, such as toe exercises, toe-grabbing glass ball exercises and bouncing exercises such as jumping rope and basketball, to improve the strength of the foot muscles and ligaments and promote the development of the foot arch. In addition, parents should also pay more attention to the children’s usual posture, especially children with “inward eight” feet or X-shaped legs, children who like to kneel and W-shaped sitting, parents should help them develop the correct posture, so as to effectively reduce the sequelae of children caused by functional foot problems.
3, the correct choice of shoes can prevent the sequelae of flat feet
Each stage of children’s foot growth should have different care methods. Parents should select healthy and appropriate shoes for their children, which is especially important for their healthy foot growth. Children wearing the right shoes and insoles can reduce the chance of foot sequelae and ligament damage.
Healthy shoes should have the following elements.
(1) Have different ranges of arch padding support to relieve arch fatigue and prevent the sequelae of flat feet.
(2) A stiff heel cup to stabilize the heel bone and control the magnitude of rearfoot valgus.
(3) There are different circumference options for the forefoot to prevent the forefoot from being too loose or too tight and to increase foot comfort.
(4) shaped midsole design to help stabilize the foot shape and strengthen the support of the insole.
Depending on the situation, choose shoes and socks with good warmth such as cotton shoes and towel socks, which are warm and comfortable and very suitable for children. Sneakers, rubber shoes and leather shoes have poor warmth and dissipate heat quickly, making them easy to freeze the feet, so they should not be worn. The size of shoes and socks should be slightly larger, and there should be a slight gap between the feet and shoes to facilitate air insulation and increase warmth.
4, often change and dry shoes and socks
Children are active, feet sweat easily, it is best to place insoles in the shoes to absorb moisture and sweat to reduce heat emission, and often change often sunshine, to ensure that the shoes are dry and warm. After the rain and snow days, shoes and socks get wet, to be promptly changed to the child.
5, every night with hot water to children’s feet
Every night before going to bed to insist on using warm water to wash the child’s feet, lie down and cover the feet. This can make the child’s feet to avoid getting cold, both to prevent colds, but also to help children fall asleep faster, to improve the quality of sleep is also very good.