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How to distinguish children's orthopedic shoes from ordinary shoes?
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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Sometimes in the store children's orthopedic shoes are mixed with regular ones. How to distinguish children's orthopedic shoes from regular ones? What properties of shoes for a child should you pay attention to first?
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The back and its height
First of all, parents need to pay attention to the heel. When choosing shoes for a child under 6, the heel of his shoes should be especially well reinforced to support the child's ankle and protect the delicate cartilages of the foot from damage. If the heel hides the ankle and the heel is well fixed, the shoes will not rub or press, the child's movements when running and walking will be free, the foot will not get tired so quickly.
Make sure that the heel counter that hides the ankle is one and a half to two centimeters higher than it. This type of footwear allows you to firmly fix the heel, help it not to fall inward, support the ligaments and muscles of the child's foot. Shoes with a tight heel counter will help to cope with flat feet or correct it. Doctors usually prescribe such shoes for children with a tendency to flat feet or to prevent foot deformation.
A heel counter that barely reaches the ankle is recommended for children over 6 years old. This counter also fixes the heel, but such shoes are lighter, allowing the child's foot to be more mobile. However, shoes with such counters are usually recommended in strictly individual cases, when the foot develops incorrectly, if the foot is severely deformed, and also after operations. Counters that barely reach the ankle and orthopedic shoes can be prescribed to children diagnosed with muscle atrophy.
The softness of the heel counter in orthopedic shoes can also vary. If the shoes are really high-quality, their counter consists of special plates covered with leather. Such a counter holds the child's feet well and does not allow the heel to fall through. A low-quality counter is a part of the shoe that immediately falls through and becomes deformed when you press on it with your finger.
Such a back will not be able to fix the back of the child's foot. The best back in terms of hardness is the one that you can easily rest your finger on, and it does not fall through or get pressed in. Such a back will be able to normally fix the back of the foot and keep it in a vertical position all the time while the child is wearing the shoe.
How to choose the right insole
Orthopedic shoes may or may not have an instep support. If the doctor has already diagnosed a child with foot deformity, then he or she needs an instep support and a special supporting insole. Such devices are most often used if the child has different leg lengths, which is accompanied by posture problems.
The instep support can be glued into the shoe, but it can also be removable, that is, inserted into the shoe together with the orthopedic insole to correct the foot. The instep support should not press and cause discomfort. The correct instep support is an elastic instep support, which allows the shoe to cushion. Such instep supports should not be pressed in when you press on them with your fingers. This is an important indicator when choosing children's orthopedic shoes. If the instep support is too soft, it will lose its properties in a month or two and will not so much serve as harm to the child.
Heel area in orthopedic shoes
In the place where the heel is formed, children's shoes should be slightly thicker and raised. This is intended so that the child can correct the position of his foot and posture. A slight thickening at the back of the shoe allows the load on the muscles and the center of gravity on the surface of the child's foot to be correctly distributed.
How to choose the right orthopedic insole?
If the shoes are really good, their insole should be made up of at least three layers.
Fifthly, the insole of orthopedic shoes should consist of at least 3 layers. This makes it possible to make the child's movements more cushioned, it is easier for him to move, run, jump. A multi-layer insole helps a boy or a girl to significantly reduce the weight that falls on the feet, distributing it correctly and evenly.
If the orthopedic insole is too hard, the child's foot will rest against it, unable to absorb shock, and then there will be a lot of stress on the ligaments of the leg.
Correct orthopedic sole
When you check the orthopedic sole of children's shoes, pay attention to whether it bends well (this also applies to adult shoes - that is, shoes for adults). If the sole does not want to bend, it means that it is made of materials that will be difficult to wear. In addition, an inflexible sole of children's shoes puts a lot of stress on the ligaments of the child's foot. The foot is strained, and the ankle in particular.
In such shoes the child will quickly get tired, the foot will be deformed. And this leads to flat feet and foot deformation. If the sole is orthopedic. Then a heel should be attached to it, true, not high, but stable, strong and large in area. This heel should be thicker in the back.
An orthopedic sole may also have a hidden heel, which still lifts the foot from behind, relieving tension. If the shoe is designed correctly, then when you put it on, the foot does not fall in the heel area either to the right or to the left.
Weight of orthopedic shoes
Because orthopedic shoes for children must be constructed from natural materials – leather, good soles, several layers of insoles, a fairly stable heel – they will not be too light in weight. But this is not scary, because such shoes give the child’s foot stability. In addition, properly constructed orthopedic shoes relieve the weight from the child’s feet and thus compensate for their heavier weight than regular shoes.
Why do small children need orthopedic shoes?
Just a few decades ago, many doctors expressed the point of view that small children do not need orthopedic shoes. Especially those children who are under two years old. Orthopedic shoes are heavy, doctors justified their point of view. And they also said that at this age, correcting the foot is simply a crime, because it should develop on its own, in a natural way, and there is no need to interfere with it.
Alas, the time of walking barefoot on grass and sand from an early age has long passed. If earlier almost all children began to walk and run without any shoes, then the modern civilized world has made its own adjustments. Children often grow up in apartments, where from an early age they put on their feet either booties, or hussars, or boots. Their feet are deformed already in childhood, and foot deformations are aggravated by its incorrect position or too much load.
In addition, from an early age, parents strive to buy their baby the most beautiful shoes, without thinking about their orthopedic qualities. And thus contribute to the deformation of the child's foot. When at a very tender age a child begins to wear uncomfortable, albeit beautiful shoes, the legs experience increased stress and get very tired. Increasingly, such children develop flat feet, which doctors diagnose not as congenital, but as acquired.
If you continue to ignore the importance of choosing the right shoes, flat feet become chronic and are difficult to correct or eliminate. Therefore, correctly chosen orthopedic shoes for a child are the best solution that will provide the baby not only comfort, but also health.