O-shaped legs

When there is no reason to worry

Important! Be sure to read to the very end! We have scattered a detailed explanation throughout the article to make it easier for you ☺

- Do you know that your daughter's legs are not developing correctly, they are turned out like the letter "O"? This needs to be fixed!
- I see, of course, I was worried too, but the pediatrician calmed me down and said that there was no need to worry, that this is typical for some children and will probably go away naturally.
- What are you saying, how can it go away on its own! You have the wrong doctor! THIS needs to be treated, you have a girl, she will grow up with crooked legs, how can you explain to her later that it could have been cured, and you relied on the natural path?.. I'll tell you now what shoes to buy, and they must have an instep support, this is the most important thing...

You can overhear as many conversations as you like on playgrounds. Suspicious mothers rush off to buy shoes with the right arch support, put their child in new therapeutic shoes – and are happy. They say, I took care of my daughter's healthy feet – and now everything will be fine.

One mistake, two mistakes

Did you see the two main mistakes? Here they are:

1. the surrounding mothers, who do not have a special education, cannot give an adequate assessment of the presence or absence of pathology of the legs of your child, even if their own children or the children of friends of friends had "exactly the same thing and I know how they were cured"
2. you should buy therapeutic or corrective shoes on the recommendation of a doctor after he makes his verdict after examining the child.

In this situation, if we talk about the O-shaped position of the legs in babies, it is important to take into account the fact that some children aged 1-2 years really have such a position. BUT! Most often, this is not a pathology, but a natural development process, and specifically during this period the legs really look rounded.

Surely the doctor will tell the mother that there are no special indications for wearing special therapeutic shoes. The O-shaped position at a certain age is a classic pattern of leg development in a healthy child. And in such cases, footwear should be selected according to the same criteria that we recommend when choosing footwear for feet without orthopedic disorders. In the section orthopedic preventive footwear you can view and purchase such models.

Let's remind you how to choose shoes

We will never tire of reminding you every time about what kind of shoes (children's autumn orthopedic shoes, summer or winter) are considered correct and what criteria should be followed when buying new clothes for healthy feet.

• The shoes are made of natural materials.
• The right size. Some prudent mothers like to buy shoes for growth in order to wear them longer. Remember: the allowance should not be more than 1 cm! But it is also not good if the model sits too tightly: the foot should be free, the toes should not rest against the toe.
• The toe is not narrow, so as not to squeeze the toes.
• The back is not high, of normal size, but nevertheless moderately reinforced.
• The model is securely fixed - with laces, tightening, Velcro, straps with buckles, etc. - the shoes should not dangle on the foot.
• The heel is slightly raised by means of a small heel, visually visible or built into the inner part of the shoe structure (as in sneakers, for example, or in shoes with a cork insole).
• Perhaps the most important requirement for shoes is comfort. The child must certainly be comfortable. Of course, a one-year-old baby won't tell you where it's pressing or rubbing, but a mother will always understand whether the child is comfortable or not - if he is cheerful, or calm and not capricious - then everything is fine.

The most important point

Our readers, advanced in the field of orthopedics to almost level 80, know very well what an instep support is in shoes. Namely, a bulge in the middle part of the foot, which is a pad on the insole. This pad lifts the foot in the central part, helping to form the arch and providing the necessary support for the foot. Therefore, an instep support is present in most really high-quality shoes. After all, it is good for most people, including children.

But in a child under two years old, in place of the longitudinal arch of the foot, there is, so to speak, his own built-in instep support - a pad made of a layer of fat. Because of it, it is not possible to clearly see this very arch of the foot. And this is normal - because it should be so.

Therefore, in the case of O-shaped placement of the feet of a one-and-a-half-year-old child, the instep support in the shoe should be absent - foot support in the place of formation of the arch is not required.

Why? And imagine what happens to the foot if you add a high instep support under its inner part: the tilt to the outer side of the foot and, consequently, the entire leg will increase. So this detail will not only help, but also partly interfere with the alignment of the legs, which in most cases happens by itself.

Therefore, the instep support must be excluded from the model. Any shoemaker will remove instep supports from shoes for a small fee: first, he will carefully trim the insole on the side along the inner side, pull out the instep support and glue the insole back. The work there really takes 5 minutes and it is unlikely to cost you very much.

But keep in mind that shoemakers often call a completely different part of the shoe an instep support. Therefore, indicate the specific part that needs to be removed.

This is what an orthopedic insole of a shoe looks like after the instep support is removed.

If the doctor has ruled out possible disorders or pathologies, feel free to buy the right comfortable shoes and let your baby grow up healthy and happy!