How to treat clubfoot and grasp the best treatment period

Many parents do not discover that their children have clubfoot until they are learning to walk, but by then it is often too late to seek medical attention. Foot valgus is a congenital disease, but it can be cured under existing medical conditions, provided that it is treated promptly during the best treatment period. Otherwise, if the time is delayed, the treatment effect will be very different.

1. How to treat foot valgus

1. Manual correction method: generally suitable for children under 6 months or with milder cases. Start at birth, the earlier the better. The doctor teaches the mother or guides the child to first correct the adduction of the forefoot, then correct the inversion of the subtalar joint, and then correct the plantar flexion of the ankle joint. The technique should be gentle to avoid damaging the epiphysis. Hold each correction position for 10 seconds, for 10-15 minutes each time. It is generally recommended to do it before breastfeeding.

2. Plaster tube external fixation correction: Plaster tube external fixation correction will cause inconvenience to the child's movements. It is mainly suitable for children aged 3 months to 1 year. The plaster needs to be replaced every 2-3 months until recovery.

3. Surgical treatment: It is the most common method. Once surgery is performed, it means the condition is more serious. It is mainly suitable for children over 6 months old who cannot be corrected by manual surgery. However, the effect of the surgery will vary depending on the severity of the condition.

2. The best treatment period for foot valgus

The best time to treat hallux valgus is of course when the child is younger. The earlier the child's hallux valgus is corrected, the better, because hallux valgus becomes more serious with the increase of weight. Early hallux valgus can be corrected with orthopedic shoes and hallux valgus orthotic insoles, which can keep the child's feet in a normal position and cushion the collapsed arch of the foot, so that the child will develop in the right direction in the future. 10 years old is too old and the bones have been deformed. No matter what treatment is used, it is impossible to restore the foot to a normal shape. We can only control the development of eversion and make the greatest improvement on the existing basis.

3. Auxiliary exercise methods to correct foot valgus

1. Acupuncture therapy: Acupuncture therapy is also effective in treating hallux valgus. However, when acupuncture is performed on children, the treatment effect is limited because the children are prone to movement.

2. Exercise therapy: In view of the child's restless personality, exercise therapy can be used to treat the child's foot valgus. The more commonly used method in clinical practice is crawling exercise, because crawling helps children increase their ability to control their knee joints, coordinate their movements, etc., and the effect is good if persisted in for a long time.

3. Crawling training with the knee flexed is beneficial to correct knee prolapse, while increasing the ability to control the knee joint and coordinate its movement ability. Knee flexion and extension is a dorsiflexion training, which improves the strength of the extensor muscles and coordinates the ability of the antagonist muscles.

4. Squat training: the knee joint should be flexed 9 degrees when squatting, and the knee joint should be 140-160 when standing to avoid hyperextension of the knee.