For most parents it’s normal to take their child for regular checkups to ensure they have healthy eyes and teeth, but a part of the body often ignored is a child’s feet.
A child’s feet are the foundation of their body. The feet of growing age child are soft and pliable. A complex network of muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, nerves & blood vessels must work together to enable efficient & pain free transfer of body weight over the feet.
If any of the structures in this rapidly growing network are out of balance, the impact can be felt throughout the entire body and can lead to poor posture, muscle tightness & mal–alignment. If left untreated in the growing child, foot & leg problems can cause years of unavoidable pain & lost activity.
This can have long-term impacts on the physical activity levels & child may suffer from heel pain, knee pain, back pain, various disorders and deformities Therefore it is significant to have your child assessed for biomechanical alignment for issues which is crux to:
Good posture
Enhance physical performance
Achieve full potential & stay competitive
Energetic & Healthy Living
Vital stages in gait (refers to the pattern of walking) development occur before the age of 8. Intervening early and identifying the root cause of the problem , while bones are still rapidly growing, offers the best opportunity to make lasting improvements to a child’s foot & leg health.
At Orthofit, we specialize in “FOOT, ANKLE & LOWER LIMB CARE” of all ages and know that many foot ailments and development problems affecting adults have their origins in childhood. If we catch these problems early, many conditions can be successfully treated. These young development years for children’s feet will directly affect their strength and mobility in later years.
All children should have a scheduled physical structural alignment checkup at the following times:
age 5-10 (just before a child starts primary school)age 11-15 (just before a child starts secondary school)
Our practitioners have undertaken advanced training in the assessment of children for biomechanical or gait abnormalities that may be causing pain or injury.
Our comprehensive assessment includes tests of flexibility, joint range of motion, foot muscle strength, balance and stability during gait. This procedure assists us in prescribing a targeted exercise program to help improve your child’s flexibility and mobility.
We encourage you to act now if you have any concerns or questions. Early detection and treatment can make all the difference.
Regular assessment of physical structural alignment and biomechanics ensure your children's their growth is A+: just as in academic performance
