Flat feet in children is a controversial area among health professionals. The debate centers about if flat foot needs to be treated or left alone as a lot of them grow out of it. Flat feet or a decreased mid-foot (arch) is a very common finding in youngsters and young children. A lot of them do grow out of flat feet and don't have any kind of problems. Some will not outgrow it and subsequently develop issues. The debate is about if they all be dealt with to be certain that the kids do grow out of it and if this particular over treatment is called for. Mothers and fathers are obviously concerned about the appearance of the foot and do not want problems to occur for their little one later on.
What is clear is that it should be taken care of if it is painful or causing symptoms. Such symptoms may not be just pain but can be things like greater frequency of falling. Those who are at a greater risk of developing complications most likely be also treated. These may possibly consist of children who have a notably severe flat foot and those whose both mother and father have flat feet and get problems.
What is not so obvious would be the treatment, if any, that's needed for those youngsters with flat feet that don't satisfy those criteria. Should they be treated based on the very low possibility that they will not outgrow the flat feet and be a problem. Various health care professionals will make different reasons which they should and they should not. Some of these arguments coming from both sides of this discussion in many cases are made passionately and with lots of confidence. Unfortunately, the actual state of the evidence to help with this is not so good and much more scientific studies are required to help this.
For those which ought to be treated there are a variety of options. For many it could simply need to be some straightforward padding added into the shoes which is simple and economical. For other kids a premade type of foot orthotic may be used. In the event the issues are more complex then a customized foot orthotic may well sometimes be recommended. These kind of treatments will have to be every now and then replaced because the child grows. Alongside these types of treatments it is probably recommended that exercises be employed to improve the muscles which support the mid-foot of the foot and help with coordination along with normal development.
An episode from the Podiatry related live stream and podcast, PodChatLive had a show on the controversy with the shows hosts talking with the foot specialist, Helen Banwell. They chatted about the issues of symptomatic as opposed to painless flat feet in children and reviewed the subject of if this needs to be taken care of versus when it does not need to be treated. They even reviewed the potential importance of questioning with regards to family history and how to manage worried and anxious fathers and mothers. Clearly, a lot more research is important on flat feet in youngsters to ascertain just which ones should be taken care of along with what the best solution for flat foot in kids would be.