Advice please - trying not to get in a state

[ImnotMamaGbutsheLovesMe]

DS2 has a doctors appointment this week to get a referral to a podiatrist. He has been walking on his tiptoes and I know there comes a point where it can be a problem. He has had problems with alignment before but I think that is sorted.

What could it be and what does it mean? His sister had lots of appointments for her feet, mostly private as we didn't trust our then GP, ending up at GOSH where she got a clean bill of health.

I can't help worrying about DS2 though.

Is he able to put his feet down flat, or are the achilles tendons too tight for that? Does he seem to have normal feeling in his feet - eg ticklish etc? And how old is he, and is it getting worse over time?

There are conditions where the tendons are too tight, and it gets to be a problem as they grow, but there are operations which they can do to help so please don't get too worried about it.

He can walk flat as he doesn't do it all the time. We do this little piggy goes to market on his toes and he wiggles about then.

He is 3.

It may just be a habit he's got into then, if it's just some of the time and there's no other signs of problems with his feet. If the tendons are just a little bit tight, making it tempting for him to tiptoe, I think physiotherapists can give exercises to help them stretch out more.

I asked him why he did it and he said "Cause I just do!"

My Dh's cousin mentioned it and I asked in the shoe shop when handing over a small ransom for some new shoes and she suggested getting it looked at, esp in light of his sister's problems.

Everyone of my children has had problems. I can't help feeling like I have done/are doing something wrong.

It may be nothing, but of course you'll worry, specially if your other children have problems - very likely the specialist will say everything's fine, and he just feels like it!

Appointment tmw

panicking

Please don't panic. {{hug}}. It may be as simple as AMumInScotland said. I kept being bombarded with leaflets and questions about dd's walking, despite there not actually being any concerns. My physio explained that it was because girls are more likely to tiptoe excessively, as when they do so they get praised for being pretty/dancing/being a fairy/etc, and eventually it can shorten the tendons.

Hope it all goes well for you and your ds tomorrow.

My stomach is in knots. This is ridiculous. It is only an appointment and the doctor we are seeing is lovely with DS2.

Please don't panic too much about this, my dd and 2 of her cousins also walk on their tiptoes and can walk normally.

They all tend to walk on tiptoes when in bare feet and walk on the whole foot when in shoes, and can run etc normally.

They are probably being over cautious after your dd having problems when younger, after all it's better to be safe than sorry, but I am sure it will be nothing serious but even if there is something it's probably better to sort it out now.

I hope this helps to calm you a bit

No you are just feeling panicky because you're afraid they will be horrid to you and say it is your fault - which of course it isn't - but if you get told this a lot when you are young in situations where it is not your fault, you learn to expect it.

It will be fine. all children have problems with something. Ds1 saw the podiatrist for intoeing, I think they call it, but they just said casually that he would grow out of it.

Thank you.

I have sent the referral form off.

He said DS2 was knock kneed too. I thought he was.