How to distinguish children's orthopedic footwear from the usual?
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Sometimes in the store children's orthopedic shoes are mixed with the usual. How to distinguish children's orthopedic footwear from the usual? On what properties of shoes for a child need to pay attention in the first place?
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Backwater and its height
First of all, parents need to pay attention to the backdrop. When you choose a shoe for a child under 6, the back of his shoe should be especially well strengthened to support the child's ankle and protect the tender cartilage of the foot from damage. If the back is hiding the ankle, and the heel is well fixed, the shoes will not rub and reap, the child's movements during running and walking will be free, the foot will not get tired so quickly.
Make sure that the back, hiding the ankle, was above it by a half to two centimeters. This shoe allows you to tightly fix the heel, help it not to fall into the depths, support the ligaments and muscles of the pedicel. Shoes with a thimble back will help well to cope with a flatfoot or to correct it. Doctors usually prescribe to wear such shoes to children with a tendency to flat feet or to prevent deformation of the foot.
The back, which hardly reaches the ankles, is recommended for children after 6 years. This back also fixes a heel, but such shoes are easier, allows the child's leg to be more mobile. However, shoes with such backs are usually recommended in strictly individual cases, when the leg develops incorrectly, if the foot is heavily deformed, and also after operations. Backs, scarcely reaching the ankles, and orthopedic shoes can prescribe to children who have muscular atrophy diagnosed.
The softness of the backdrop in orthopedic shoes can also vary. If the shoes are really quality, its back consists of special plates that are covered with leather. Such a backrest holds the baby's legs well, does not allow the heel to fall. A poor-quality backdrop is part of the shoe that, when you press it with your finger, immediately falls through, deforms.
Such a back will not be able to fix the back of the baby's leg. The most good backdrop in the degree of hardness is one in which it is possible to rest freely with a finger, and it does not fail and is not pressed. Such a backdrop can normally fix the back of the foot and keep it in a vertical position all the time while the child is in the shoes.
How to choose the right instep
In orthopedic shoes can be a supinator, but it may not be. If the doctor has already diagnosed a foot deformity in a child, then he needs a supinator and a special supporting insole. Such adaptations are most often used if the child has different length of legs, which is accompanied by a violation of posture.
The instep can be pasted into the shoes, but it can also be removable, that is, to put on shoes together with the orthopedic insole to adjust the foot. The supinator should not press and bring discomfort. The correct arch support is an elastic arch support, which makes it possible for the shoe to be depreciated. Such insteps should not be pinched when you press them with your fingers. This is an important indicator when choosing children's orthopedic footwear. If the instep is too soft, it will lose its properties within a month or two and will not only serve, but harm the child.
Heel zone in orthopedic shoes
In the place where the heel is formed, the children's shoes should be slightly thickened and raised. This is provided so that the child adjusts the position of his foot and posture. A small thickening in the back of the shoe makes it possible to correctly distribute the load to the muscles and the center of gravity on the surface of the foot.
How to choose an orthopedic insole?
If the shoes are really good, its insole should be made up of three layers minimum.
Fifth, the insole of orthopedic footwear should consist of at least 3 layers. This makes it possible to make the child's movements more amortized, it is easier for him to move, run, jump. The multi-layer insole helps the boy or girl to significantly reduce the weight that falls on the feet, distributing it correctly and evenly.
If the orthopedic insole is too hard, then the baby's leg will rest against it, not being able to absorb, and then a big load on the leg ligaments is obtained.
Correct orthopedic sole
When you check the orthopedic sole of children's shoes, pay attention to it to bend well (this also applies to adult shoes - that is, shoes for adults). If the sole does not want to bend, then it is made of such materials that will be heavy for wearing. In addition, the stiffened sole of children's shoes gives a lot of tension for the ligaments of the baby's legs. The foot strains, and the ankle - in particular.
In such shoes the child will quickly get tired, the foot will be deformed. And this leads to flatfoot and deformities of the foot. If the sole is orthopedic. It should not be attached a heel, however, low, but stable, strong and large in area. This heel should be thickened in the back.
Orthopedic soles can also have a hidden heel, which still raises the foot from behind, relieving tension from it. If the shoes are designed correctly, then, putting it on, the leg does not fall in the heel area either to the right or to the left.
Weight of orthopedic shoes
Due to the fact that orthopedic footwear for children should be constructed from natural materials - leather, good soles, several layers of insole, a sufficiently stable heel - it will not be too light in weight. But it's not scary, because such shoes give the child's leg stability. In addition, properly designed orthopedic footwear removes the weight from the legs of the child and thereby compensates for its heavier weight than that of normal footwear.
Why do small children need orthopedic shoes?
A few decades ago, many doctors expressed the view that young children do not need orthopedic shoes. Especially for those children who are not yet two years old. Orthopedic shoes are heavy, doctors have motivated their point of view. And they also said that at this age the foot is corrected - it's just a crime, because it should develop itself, in a natural way, and it's not necessary to interfere with it.
Alas, the time of walking barefoot on the grass and sand from a small age has long passed. If before, almost all the children started to walk and run around without any shoes, the modern civilized world made its own adjustments. Children conceived grow in apartments, where from a small age they put on their legs a pair of pines, then hussars, then boots. Their foot is deformed as a child, and deformities of the foot are aggravated if its position is incorrect or too heavy.
In addition, from a small age, parents tend to buy their baby the most beautiful shoes, without thinking about her orthopedic qualities. And thus contribute to the deformation of the child's foot. When at the tenderest age a child begins to wear uncomfortable, though beautiful shoes, the legs experience increased tension and become very tired. Increasingly, these children develop flat feet, which doctors diagnose, not as congenital, but as acquired.
If you still do not attach importance to the right choice of shoes, then the flat foot becomes chronic and it is difficult to correct or eliminate it. Therefore, the correctly selected orthopedic footwear for a child is the best solution that will provide the child with not only comfort, but also health.