The New School Year and Your Children’s Feet

How to prepare your kids feet for the busy start of a new school year?

Everybody looks forward to the new school year; whether it’s the kids growing tired of the summer camps and preseason and missing their school friends, or parent’s anxiousness to get the kids out of the house again. So many focus on all the brand new supplies and fresh clothes that each new school year brings, but you also must have those final health checkups to start the year off right. There is a pull in the healthcare community for more preventative medicine to help patients be made aware of possible future health issues; opposed to having to treat something that could have been avoided all together. So before you send your kids on their way to a new school year, make sure that you visit your podiatrist to check up on their foot and ankle health.

What do you need to have checked up on?

Kids are constantly growing and developing, especially in the early years of life. You hear of the astonishing stories that some kids grow up to 6 inches in a summer, but no one really talks about how that growth spurt can affect their feet. Not only can their feet get bigger and require larger shoes, but it can also mean major changes in their foot type, rectus, flat foot (no arch), or even cavus foot (high arches).

How important is having a proper foot check?

It is vital that we keep an eye on our little ones feet as they are growing; some conditions they can naturally grow out of, for example, toe walking or a pigeon-toed gate pattern. However, more severe pediatric conditions need further evaluation and treatment.

If you or someone you know might be interest in discussing more about your “back to school feet”, come into our office Frederick Foot & Ankle. We would be more than happy to schedule an appointment, at any of our 3 offices in Frederick, MD or Urbana, MD.