DD has had some trouble with her legs and feet for a little while. She has quite a prominent in-step on both feet, always has, it has been worse/better over the years at various stages, but never caused her pain, discomfort or affected her walking/running etc. Told as a young child by medical professionals to keep an eye as she grows but likely will grow out of it and also if it doesn't cause her problems it probably won't be addressed in any way.
Over the last few months, she has complained that her knees knock when she runs, and when playing some sports such as hockey her ankles have been hurting, more in her right leg/ankle. Also that her thighs hurt a little.
It's got worse over the last months, to the point that now when she walks, her feet turn very inwards (right in particular) after a while, and she can turn both ankles/feet completely the other way. After walking quite short distances she is in some pain and is starting to not want to do activities that require walking/running/moving.
Saw GP (locum) a couple of months ago who said it was perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. As it got worse, I took her back a couple of weeks ago, especially after she showed me how she could turn her feet backwards on themselves. GP has referred to physic for an assessment, but says he thinks its probably just that she has had a growth spurt and that her muscles/ligaments haven't caught up yet, so pulling her feet in slightly, and causing it to hurt. He said physio will check to see where the instep comes from (i.e., hips, knees or ankle themselves) and likely give her physio exercises to strengthen muscles/ligaments if it's what he thinks is the case.
He doesn't think it's joint hyper mobility syndrome as she can't bend her thumb backwards and has no hyper mobile joints anywhere else that we can tell.
She is off school today as her right ankle and lower leg is so painful she can't bear weight on it. It has been steadily building over the last few days, and by last night she was crying in pain, woke in the night with pain (not usual) and sobbed at the prospect of going to school (not usual for her either). It hurts to bear weight, but also to turn the ankle and move it - it hurts around the ankle and up the leg on the lower part of her lower limb. Her left leg hurts a little but nowhere near as bad as right leg.
Called physio today, they have a cancellation for tomorrow, and she is going in for that appt.
In the meantime, what can I do to help with the pain? She has been having calpol and ibuprofen alternating for the last few days, but by last night it didn't do a huge amount. Have used ice pack, which eased it a little.
Can I strap it? How would I do that? Anything else I can do to ease it for her? Didn't want to take her to docs today, as it's another locum who I saw myself this week and she was a bit useless to be honest so didn't see the point of taking her today.
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Children's health
9 year old child has a sore ankle/leg. What can I do to help?
PavlovtheCat · 04/11/2015 10:13
and i've got both hot and cold packs coming out of my ears as I need them myself 
so she's ok on that front. Made sure she hasn't done anything requiring walking, other than to the loo, to the dinner table etc. And she has had it elevated, iced and I'll put some heat on too now.
It does sound far more like a hypermobile joints issue, but of course if it is you are more prone to injury anyway.
Good luck 
DD has a similar thing (also hyper mobile in major joints and not thumbs!) and our gp said it was Severs Disease. Which isn't a disease so much as a syndrome apparently, 
Anyway, her legs are apparently growing faster than the Achilles' tendon and that is putting pressure on her heel plate. Rest and time we were told.
toffee finding shoes is really, really difficult actually. She has long thin feet too, and none of them fit her properly really. When she was younger it was easier as most children's shoes are higher at the heel and padded/tighter fitting and have cushioned soles. Many school shoes for her age are much more fashion style, and clarks had none that would fit both thin and long, and also help with the instep - a few of those, especially those without any ankle support at all made her instep much worse, and pulls the foot onto it's inner side as well as making it turn in more.
I bought her a pair in the end from start-rite, cushioned, well padded around the ankles, doc martin mary jane style. They were £52! We realised then we need to be spending money on her shoes, and I am struggling to find any 'fun' shoes for her that fit, are comfy and provide some support for her ankles. She mostly wears trainers at the moment out of school, which is not great really as she wants pretty sometimes too.
Winter is better, as there is a better choice for boots I think, to provide a bit more support for her.
I will look at the kickers, she had them when she was very little and actually, thinking back, probably she walked best when she had those. They just make her feet look very big and clunky due to the length of her feet. (she is a 2.5-3 in length but around a 1 in width, with bony toes).
I was thinking about the doc martins, but good to know they are quite heavy, don't think they will help her right now, but I will make sure I talk shoes with the physio. She would love doc martins though! (she'd also be happy with Kickers, she really likes the silver or multi coloured ones!).
The instep getting worse/turning in more and falling over more that your DS finds toffee when he walks too much is exactly what happened to DD last time she walked too far. She kept stumbling (DH said, and also that her instep was much worse. And he never makes a fuss about things, even he was bothered. I wasn't there at the time) and when she got to me (I was drinking coffee by the river nearby as can't walk far due to back problem of my own) she cried and said she wasn't going on walks again.
zombie oh you poor thing 
that it still causes you problems this long after it first became a problem.
I have to admit, whatever it is (and it does sound hyermobile in nature, you are right footle it's not usual to be able to turn your feet completely around) I am worried for her. She is normally highly active, loves walking, climbing (not so much running), swimming, bike riding, skating (but not well! as she can't get her feet straight enough!) and wants to do ice skating. She asked to start cross country running (before this big pain spike) but I have asked her to wait until we get her feet sorted first.
I hope this doesn't stop her being active in the long term.
scones not heard of severs disease, will go check. How is your DD generally with it, does it interfere a lot in daily activities? how old is she?
I have EDS (hypermobility type) and had problems like your daughter's at her age. I also have hyper pronated ankles, knees and hips and can turn my ankles backwards. Unfortunately, mine got worse and worse and worse and now i'm a wheelchair user as my hips, knees and ankles can no longer support my weight. This wouldn't have happened (probably) if I had had support in childhood. If its is hypermobility (not all hypermobility is EDS-EDS has other implications like gastric and heart-but her IBS is a bit of a red flag, although some young girls struggle with hypermobility which improves after puberty) then she needs physio, proper ankle support through braces and orthotics and a decent painkiller regime. Try to keep her as active as possible, muscles support ligaments.
Heart goes out to your DD. It's horrible when you lose faith in your own body.
I know what you mean on the cost of shoes to. For me it's a major reason for keeping amazon prime going. Kickers (DS) and Dr martens (DD who has also had some hopefully short term ankle issues) are a good price I can order several styles and send them all back for free if necessary. We don't have decent shoes shops near us so the cost of getting there stacks up, I can guarantee amazon have what I want in stock at the right price and get it delivered for the next day.
That said coincidently i have recently found out from the dr martens store that different dr martens apparently fit differently. Some are narrower and slimmer in the foot. If your DD is keen, i wouldnt rule out dr martens. Your DD is clearly very fit and when this hump is over the weight might not be a factor. Especially when you consider Dr Martens with pretty ribbon laces.
I know they say trainers are fine, but i watch DS walk in them (looking from behind) and he automatically roles the ankle/ heel inwards, leg is not directly over ankle where it is meant to be. Thankfully school have been fantastically sensible and with physio's blessing trainers are gone and DS wears kickers for everything including pe. We didnt bother with sandals this year. Kickers are fantastic for the price.
Some kangol shoes in sports direct actually pass muster on the cheap end of pretty girls school shoes (£20 and under)and are quite long and thin. (I am the nutter in the shop making sure the sole bends but not twists and has the right heel cup).
DS destroys clarks.
Still think boots would be better for your DD though, even for school.
unweaved I'm sorry to hear your EDS deteriorated so badly as you grew older 
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zombie that's really positive to hear. She loves being active, and I would hate to see that disappear. Hopefully we will get the right support quickly to help her manage this well and enable her to continue doing things that she enjoys.
I want to wear Doc Martins with pretty ribbons myself toffee I have noticed that her feet roll a little in her trainers also, but also, they have good heel support so have gone with it. Probably they are not helping. I think I agree with boots.
I will go check on Amazon now for some, thanks for that tip. I have used it for my own boots, to help with my back problem (Fly London, fabulous for cushioned soles with a bit of style, maybe they will have some suitable for DD?
I bought my first ever pair of DrM with pretty laces a year or so back 
I tried a pair of fly, my calves were... Umm... not svelte enough!!
Only problem now is that I can't go back to bad shoes even if they are pretty !!!
I had a pair of non crocs style crocs, this summer. They were fantastic.
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