TALIPES/CLUBFOOT, righting themselves/treaments/getting Dr appointment

[mygirllolipop]

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My ds1 had talipes when he was born and was referred on to a paediatrician - I think the appointment came through when he was still just a few weeks old. Luckily it had righted itself by then.... Surprised you haven't been given a referral yet - it is probably ok to wait until your gp appoinment I think but you should definitely press to see a paed

Hi my girl lollipop
My dd had very marked positional talipes (both feet) when she was born too. I had her in hospital and a paediatric physio saw us very soon after delivery. She showed how to help encourage her foot into the correct position and then hold for a few seconds and was told to do this regularly throughout the day.

I can't remember if there was a crease actually on her instep (she's 7 now!)but I do recall the skin being very dry and cracked horizontally on the inside of her ankle - where it would be stretching during the foot exercise. It did take a few months to correct itself and we were reviewed a couple of times at the paediatric physio clinic to check on progress. Long-term it has caused no problems at all. Hope this helps x

mygirllolipop my ds was born with talipes on the left foot. He was born in hospital and it was picked up straight away. Within 3 weeks we had an appointment with the paediatric physio who gave us exercises to do with him. We went every other month until he was 10 months by which time it had come right, then one last time when he was walking to make sure everything was working fine. I too are surprised that you havent been referred yet as it is before they are walking that is the best time to gently work them back into position as the bones and ligaments are still supple before they walk.

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Yes I'd definately push for a referal. If you can find out the name of you local hospitals peadiatric orthopeadic consultant, then ring the hospital and ask to speak to said consultants secretry(sp)you might bypass gp etc. My son has fixed bilateral talipes and is being treated with the ponseti method and in my experience peadeatric consultants are always happy to see the baby just to put the families mind at rest if nothing else. I also saw your messages on steps(I'm shadow on there) and there's some good advice on there for you.

Keep pushing as the treatments are easier on the babies(and parents) the younger they are

Good luck

My daughter had similar - we had a very quick (about 5 mins) chat with a physio before we left the hospital where she was born - and a leaflet with the exercises in.
She kept her feet in the turned in position until at least 7 months, unless she was actually standing on them.
We 'did her feet' every nappy change and they were pretty much normal by 10 months (when she started walking!), although she has still got very high 'top' to her foot and one of her feet is a good half size smaller than the other - nothing that clarks can't deal with though.
One of our exercises was to gently stroke the outer edge of her foot, and it automatically twitches in that direction - repeat lots of times.

I would definately get a referral.Ds(18 months old)was born with Talipes which was picked up straight after the birth and he had a referral to see a specialist within about 2 weeks.His right foot is actually worse than the left and he spent the first 10 weeks or so with both his legs in plaster.We were also shown how to manipulate the feet on a daily basis.After the plasters came off he had to wear special little boots to help correct his feet-they looked like they were on the wrong feet IYKWIM and had to wear them 23 hours a day.Luckily,he never had to wear a bar with them as we were told that they weren't that bad.He started walking at 14 months and he now wears different boots from the hospital which look quite normal and I even had a choice of about 30 designs to choose from.These ones are closed in,whereas the others were open toed and he thank goodness doesn't have to sleep in them anymore of a night,only for his daytime nap and obviously I have to keep them on for most of the day,even if we're not going out anywhere.
I have been told that it can be quite a long process and obviously every case is different and some small children have to have a little operation if the skin at the heel is too tight.I also find it doesn't stop Ds doing anything and he races about just like any other toddler,but he does tend to trip up or fall over every now and then.
The last time we saw the specialist was in Jan 2006 and we have an appointment to see him again in a couple of weeks,so I'll know more then about how he is progressing,but we are at the hospital on a regular basis,being measured for boots,then having them fitted.hth.

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ds2 had bilateral talipes and it was actually picked up in the 20 wk scan so we saw the physios the day he was born and started treatment straight away. He wore splints and we did exercises every day but as he right foot was still bad after 6 mths he had an op to correct it and I have to say they did an amazing job. Always better to get a referral and checked out because the exercises are easy to do and can make a huge difference - the earlier you start the better. Good luck.

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Hi,

I don't know about talipes but i saw this article osteopathic centre a while ago when I took ds2 to the centre referred to in the article. They were excellent. hth.

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Mygirllolipop-Naomi Davis is excellent in this field and is actually a relative(although very distant)of mine.I have heard lots of good reports regarding her work.As far as scans go,the sonographers can determine Talipes at the 20 week scan,but quite often is develops afterwards.I had my scan about 5 weeks ago and asked if the baby also has Talipes and at the moment he hasn't which is good,although that can change.My mum also had very bad Talipes when she was born and didn't walk til she was 7 years old.

Hi Giddy-Hope you are all well.

hi, my DD1 was born with positional talipes too but they booked her in for an ultrasound scan at 6 weeks to look at her hips and it came out normal. they advised we tickle the outside of her foot to encourage her to straighten feet.. seems to have worked. she's only 18 weeks so its hard to tell.. good luck, hope you get it sorted.

Basically there are two types of talipes, fixed and positional, both having been mentioned in previous posts. It sounds as if your lo has positional ie caused by position in the womb as it is correctible by you. In that case where I worked previously (I'm a physio though don't specialise in paeds but have treated pos. talipes) this would automatically trigger a referral to a physio who would then show you a few stretches and exercises to do and maybe follow you up a couple of times.

In my experience the splints, boots etc are only used in fixed talipes which you cannot correct manually ie needs prolonged stretching/repositioning.

Hope that helps.

You can also ask GP to refer you to local paeds physio and if they felt it needed to be seen by a paed consultant they would refer it on. (waiting times and accessibility of physio services do vary unfortunately depending on where you are)

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The occ osteopaths we met all worked 1 day at the occ and the rest if time at their own home practice. They may be able to recommend someone closer to you. From my experience with them the treatment helped ds1 not need the surgery he had been recommended so we are always very enthusiastic about recommending them. Good luck with whatever method you go with.

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