How to choose the right orthopedic footwear for a child?
Last reviewed: 19.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
With the selection of orthopedic shoes for children, you should not hesitate and wait until they grow up. Because the statistics show: more than 90% of small patients with foot deformities were not born with these abnormalities, but acquired them as a result of incorrect wearing of shoes. How to choose the right orthopedic shoes for children?
[1]
We shall struggle with a flat foot
This must be done immediately. Very often parents tend to buy their son or daughter shoes more expensive and more beautiful, not caring at all about her orthopedic properties. And so the shoe is uncomfortable, the fingers press, the heel is unstable, and the heel drops. As a result, the child's legs get tired much faster than they should, flat feet develop, the wrong position of the feet provokes serious diseases. According to statistics, more than a third of children under the age of 18 have foot deformities and need orthopedic shoes. Flat feet - the most common disease of children under 18 years.
True, flat feet can be of different types. The deformation of the foot is divided into at least two varieties. The first is a hollow foot, the second is the deformation of the transverse or longitudinal arch of the foot. The knobs on the legs or the bones on the legs (on the thumb) are also one of the types of flat feet. The foot of the child becomes flat, the center of gravity shifts, and the legs no longer perform their functions well. Because of this, a number of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, heart disease, blood vessels, nerves arise.
If the flat feet in time do not start to heal, these diseases will also be aggravated. One of the good ways to prevent flat feet in a child or treat an already existing foot arch is orthopedic footwear.
How to choose the right orthopedic shoes?
You can not know for sure if the orthopedic shoes for the child in the store have been properly selected. Even if the child is not comfortable with this shoe, he may not understand this and not tell you. This threatens the further uncomfortable position of the foot, the displacement of the fulcrum, balance and inconvenience in walking and running.
It irritates the child, he becomes nervous, capricious, quickly gets tired, does not sleep well. To avoid this, we will choose orthopedic footwear correctly. You need to start with the baby's room, not from the shoe store counter, as many parents think. Take a sheet of thick paper, one on which it is good to draw with a pencil or pen. Let the child put his feet on him, and you circle your feet. This outlined silhouette should be carefully cut with scissors.
When you measure orthopedic shoes for your child, insure yourself with the help of these improvised insoles. Attach them to the bottom of your chosen model. If the outline of the sole is longer, wider or much narrower than the sole, it means that the child will be uncomfortable with the orthopedic shoe chosen by you. She can press or, on the contrary, hang herself too much on her leg. The template can either match with the sole, or be a little narrower than it. Once you have chosen the normal size orthopedic shoes with the help of a scapular, you can try on a child like shoes, shoes or sandals.
How correctly to try on children's orthopedic footwear?
During the fitting of children's orthopedic shoes, it is impossible that it presses into the fingers or in the heels - it is generally impossible that the shoes should sting. If the baby's shoes are comfortable, it's good. But do not overdo it, buy too much orthopedic shoes. If you buy too loose shoes, being afraid of the other extreme - tightness and rubbed heels, then the child's legs may have other problems.
The foot will constantly strain, trying to take a comfortable position, but this position will not work, because the foot does not have a comfortable, reliable support. As a result, the child will be uncomfortable to move, so let the parents are not surprised that he may develop diseases of the support apparatus. Therefore, it is impossible to buy orthopedic footwear, it is better to choose it according to the size.
And at the same time parents should remember that the child's shoes, even the best, should be well-groomed. In the winter and autumn season, the baby's legs can often get wet or sweat, orthopedic shoes also become wet, and it does not always dry up. Therefore, you need to buy for the child at least 2 pairs of orthopedic shoes for each season, in order to be able to re-boot it. In addition, the change of children's shoes makes it possible to keep its appearance longer. Shoes will look "like new" for a long time. There is one feature in orthopedic footwear: if it is heavily worn, it automatically loses its properties, even if it fits the child on the leg.
Shoes should not only be on the foot, it must fulfill its direct purpose. For example, in a sports hall it is not necessary to wear heavy sneakers in which it is convenient to run on a football field, and in a cold season the child should not be let out in tennis shoes on a basketball court.
How to choose an orthopedic footwear for a child by age?
One of the main roles of orthopedic footwear for children is the prevention of diseases associated with abnormal position of the foot, and in particular - flat feet. This important task should be dealt with from the moment the child began to walk.
From the moment when the child went himself and until the age of 4 need orthopedic shoes, which well covers the ankle area. If you do not comply with this orthopedic recommendation, too short orthopedic shoes can not provide the necessary protection for the pedicel, the feet will very quickly become tired, the fingers can lose their shape, bend.
The socks of such shoes should be wide enough so that the fingers do not shrink. Socks are also desirable to choose closed, because they can protect the child's delicate fragile fingers from damage. The sole of orthopedic footwear for a child should not consist of rubber. It should be lightweight, flexible, but sturdy, protected from slipping.
Once the child is 6 years old, you can already buy orthopedic shoes with heels. They should be small, but resistant, with a good area, on which it is easy to lean. Focus on the fact that the height of the heel for a child of 6 years should be one fourteenth part of his foot. When a toddler or a baby wears such orthopedic shoes, he (her) is trained by the muscles and bones of the back, legs, much improved posture.
In such orthopedic shoes, there must necessarily be an insole, well adhered, as well as insteps. This will allow the child's leg to spring well and prevent flat feet.
Material of orthopedic footwear for the child
To the baby's leg feel comfortable, forget that you were going to save on the child's shoes. It should only be made of natural materials - leather, fabric, nubuck. They breathe and allow breathing the baby's leg, fix the foot as necessary. In shoes from leatherette, on the contrary, the baby's leg does not breathe, and harmful vapors, remaining inside, are saturated with toxins and bacteria that multiply very quickly in such an environment.
Deformities of the foot most rapidly develop at the tenderest age - from 8 months of age to one and a half years old. It is at this age that you need to carefully monitor the correct orthopedic footwear for your child. If you choose it incorrectly, you can deform not only the foot, but also the posture, and the entire locomotor apparatus of crumbs can undergo great changes. And not always they will be useful.
If the foot still began to deform - they overlooked - you need to order medical insoles, they are also the arch supports. They have a special surface with a porous relief, which absorbs excess moisture and does not allow the child's leg to damp. Insoles with a function of the instep supports will help the child's foot to be in anatomically correct position for a long time. This will relieve the load from most muscles and ligaments, as well as give loads to those muscles and ligaments that have not previously been involved or have been weakly involved.
If such orthopedic insoles are worn constantly, the leg, which has already begun to bend or which develops flat feet, returns to the correct position. To choose orthopedic insoles correctly, you need to consult an orthopedic doctor. And then monitor the situation every 3 months. To cure the foot of a child who has already begun to form incorrectly, orthopedic shoes should be worn for at least six months.
The maximum period for eliminating severe deformation of the baby's leg is the right choice