Idiopathic toe walking

[MrsJamin]

Ds (8) has always walked on his tip toes. He's got a leg length discrepancy of about 1cm. Does anyone else have a child with these problems? What options have you taken and what have you found helps your child work properly?

Wow that sounds like a lot of interventions, Cluesue. Our Dr's always say that it's too early at 8 to do any surgery because it can cause other problems. At the moment Ds isn't in pain, it seems too invasive to operate. What did you mean to say by "bus trudy" at the end of your post? Such a shame that you didn't get buy-in from health professionals when your DD was young. I'm glad my gp took our concerns seriously when Ds was about 3.5.

Have you asked for a referral for physio? My daughter nearly 8 also is a terrible toe walker and has massively shortened her Achilles because of it. She can still stretch to get a 90 degrees just about after some physio sessions. The thing I have found that helps is supportive shoes,with proper ankle support to try and ground the heels down. Also exercises such a stretches by a wall,and using a step to help lower the backs of the heels down. The only other thing is to have walking plaster put on,which in trying to avoid but may end up going down that route.

Hi han01uk, I mentioned upthread we'd been doing regular physio. Both legs in plaster tomorrow. Has anyone found good cast covers for the bath? I had some but they were a bit leaky so I'll need to get some more.

Wow. I am glad i found this thread. My son has been using night splints for a year and heavy shoes for 6 months. He finds the splints very uncomfotable and only has them on max 3 hrs at night. I went in for a progress app last monday and was shocked to be sent home with no warning with casts which he needs to wear for 4 weeks.
He seems happy in the casts and doesnt seem to have any trouble or pain walking. His sleep is a little disturbed intially but massive improvement on the splints.
My main concern is what happens when they are removed. Doctor has nothing to me. All she said was make an appointment for 4 weeks from now to have them removed and dont get them wet.
I am scared he wont be able to to walk from the hospital to the bus stop. Will he be struggling to walk and go to school the day after. Should they be offering physio appointment to help us with his walking, if so should i phone them and get an an appointment asap after the casts are removed.
Maybe taking the splints might help him walk intially. I am very confused and feel worried what to expect.