Pronated Foot Pain in Children: How to Improve Feet Health

Chronic foot pain is a complication we typically associate with adults and especially among the elderly. For some children, however, the issues with chronic foot pain may also be present and often are related to an issue with normal child growth and development. If you have noticed that your child is complaining of chronic foot pain, it is important to consider what the underlying cause of the pain may be, including the potential health issues with pronated foot pain.

During a child's normal growth and development, it is not uncommon for the abnormal gait and manifestation of foot pain to arise from time to time. But, when pain is chronic in nature, this is often indicative of a greater health risk and an issue that a pediatric podiatrist or pediatric orthopedic specialist should evaluate. For most children, pronation of the foot is common and causes a great deal of pain.

Resolving pronated foot pain in a child can be as simple as correcting the walk pattern by using specialized shoes or inserting a custom made orthotic into your child's shoe. In rare cases, when a child has pronated foot pain, there may be a need for physical therapy or gait re-training to teach your child how to walk without pronating the foot. The decision to provide these services, however, may come by way of pediatric evaluation and then evaluation by a physical therapist.

In rare cases, a child who has a pronated foot pain complication will need surgical correction to repair or modify the development of bones or ligaments in the foot. In children who have this type of abnormal gait, and abnormal foot pain, the pain is often present in only one foot and you will typically notice that your child's walks with a limp very early in life. Once surgical correction of the affected foot is made, the issues with pronated foot pain will subside as well.

Walking, running, standing and even sitting, are all key parts of our mobility that can be adversely affected by pronated foot pain. In children, when a complication arises, the pronated foot issue can typically be corrected with proper shoes and orthotics and often does not require very advanced healthcare. A pediatrician should always evaluate a child with chronic foot pain to rule out other health issues, including Achilles tendinitis, and to confirm that pronation is, indeed, the cause for concern.

Sources: The Foot Book, by Jonathan Rose