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Club feet questions

Discussion in 'Ask your questions here' started by landinsmom, Aug 20, 2008.

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  1. landinsmom

    landinsmom New Member


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    Hello I just had a baby that has club feet I just wanted to know other people's experiances. What is the prognosis and general treatment? Why would a dr. cast past the knee to help the ankle? How long does treatment usually last? Is it normal for the baby to be very upset following casting for days? Any info is greatly appreciated.
     
  2. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

    You cannot possible get a sufficient number of inputs from those who themselves had or had children who needed a clubfoot correction to have anything approaching a meaningful understanding of the likely outcomes. Because of human nature and they type of folks who may reply with their personal stories, you are far more likely to hear either horror stories or those results on the far end in either direction than to hear results which you might reasonably expect for your child. As always, the best source of information regarding any procedure that one has had should be the doctor whom you trusted to perform it in the first place, not only because he/she knows exactly what was done, but knows the precise nature of the initial problem. What you are asking for is more likely to confuse then help you.
     
  3. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    Wow doc, nice reply there, lots of help...

    Landsinmom, I am a mother of a child who is now 3.5 months old with clubfoot and I did ample research on this issue and live with it every day and also talk with others who are in the same circumstance. Typically, a child will need a few castings (aprox. 6-8), once per week or bi-weekly, until a certain level of correction is attained in the feet. The casts must be applied over the knees and up to the groin area simply to help aid in the correction and prevent slippage. Your baby may handle casting well...or may not. Mine did not handle well the first casting...then he was ok with them since he was used to it. After casting your child may need a small surgical procedure to cut a tendon in the ankle to help the foot with lift and stretching, then a last cast is put on when that heals. Sometimes this tenonomy is not required. Next comes a bar brace which will need to be worn for 23 hours a day for at least 3 months, then at night past that time, with a gradual lessening of worn time until about 4 years of age. They tell me this will not affect crawling or walking at all. If you want to write me personally, my addy is Watergazer@Comcast.net
     
  4. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

    With all due respects to the assured well-meaningness of the mother of the child born with clubfoot, her post PRECISELY epitomizes the point made in MY response. Here we have a mother who has all of less than 3 1/2 months experience with the condition and treatment of clubfoot and its often life-time sequelae, and she is not only sarcastically disdainful of a rational professional opinion cautioning you to the pitfalls of putting much credence into the recitation of such lay anecdotal experiences, but offers treatment plans based on her exceedingly short-term experience without having ANY idea of the degree of severity of your child's condition or what the doctor whom YOU have chosen to treat has in mind. If one could become an expert by all of 3 months "research" (terming it "ample"), then why in the world would one have to study, be trained, become licensed and practice for years to be able to provide these services to the public.

    Of course, though having a doctor whom you have personally engaged, yet having either not directed your question to him/her or haven't chosen one whose answers you are willing to trust, you are no doubt pleased with such an all-knowing unequivocal response, but remember that I warned you if and when your own doctor has other plans and you get all confused and irritated. I would certainly recommend that you do your own research . . but for GOD SAKE, not from lay comments on the Internet or even from professional ones, the quality of the source of which you have no means of determining.

    Those who might think that I am opening this up for a verbal battle will likely be disappointed.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2008
  5. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    question, are people permitted to comment on this forum or is it for the dr answer only, thank you?
     
  6. Admin

    Admin Administrator Staff Member

    Its open to one and all! :)
     
  7. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

    Of course, the forum is open to comment from anyone (including doctors) who posts in accordance with the Forum rules as promulgated by the Administrator. The relevance of my post, which obvious promoted your question, should be seen in the context of the post to which I had replied, in which that poster found it necessary to prefix his/her response to my initial post to landismon with inappropriate sarcasm in offering

    "Wow doc, nice reply there, lots of help..."

    No one need take my or anyone else's advice, but if one disagrees with my opinion or has an alternate opinion, then one should simply come out and state his/her case, to which I may either agree or offer rebuttal. But such sarcasm as had been employed and directed at me is not likely to go un-responded to by me. By the same token, if I disagree with someone else's opinion or motives, I will so state and give my reasons. Had the poster not include his/her sarcasm, I would not have found it necessary to defend the advice offered in my original post. That being said, I repeat that I have no intention of turning this issue into a battle.
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2008
  8. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    hi everyone. I almost dont feel comfortable commenting because I am not a doctor and I do not want to be attacked. I do however want to offer some comfort. I had bilateral club feet when I was born. At the time, it was fairly new and thereore many assumptions were made regarding the success rate of surgery regarding the club feet. My poor mother was told it may be possible that I will never walk or best case scenario I will walk a little funny. I am now 23 years old I started walking independently when I was about 4 years old. I had 6 surgurys (3 on each foot). My calfs are a little smaller than the rest of my body but I am surely not complaining. I danced my entire life after surgury. I was on a competition dance team and competed in ice skating and gymnastics as well. Over all, I turned out just fine. I still have my little tiny casts...very cute. I hope this offers a little bit of comfort this is just my experience. Not my opinion but my personal experience.
     
  9. kpetit

    kpetit New Member

    Hello Landsinmom,

    The foot doc is right that YOUR doctor is the one who knows most, but if you had to come into a forum to get information your doctor is not doing his/her job. You did not know why the cast went past the knee, what to expect during treatment, etc., and politely asked for info here.

    They could have at least given you some written information to take home and read; a lot of times people focus on a particular comment made or reaction of their baby during treatment, and don't recall everything they are told during the appointment.

    Make a list of questions, and by all means do your own research. Treatment of clubfeet has come a long way and an informed family does much better all around.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2008
  10. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    Hi Landsinmom,
    first i can assured you not to worry.it is curable. and your baby will start to run as a noramal baby.
    My daughter is now 2,5yrs old.
    At the time of her birth we came know that she is having CTEV for both the legs.we were shocked.
    On the third day treatment was started. casting had done for 4 times in the gap of 15-20 days.for last (4th)casting she had some small cut in the ancle for lifting and stretching the foot.
    After that was she put on splint shooes .which she had to wear 23 hrs for 3 months. afetr that she is wearning in the night only.
    when she started to walk as per nomal baby she put on shoes which is specially made for CTEV kids.
    doctor told me that she has to wear up to 4yr or 5yrs of age.
    Now she is 2.5yrs old and walk and run as noraml kid.
    so dont wory be hppy.
    and enjoy the parenting.
    everything will be alright.
    you can mail me at luv_chiu@yahoo.com
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2009
  11. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

    I know that you mean well, and I'm happy that things worked out so nicely for your child . . as they may, too, for Landsinmon's. But anecdotal tales such as yours, while they certainly can be a source of comfort to the parents, do not necessarily reflect what any other individual may experience, and for that matter, what may be determined as appropriate treatment by an individual's doctor based on the specifics and nuances of the case. If you were aiming merely at support, I think that has probably been achieved. But if your intent was to offer information on which Landsinmom might rely as applying to her child's treatment or prognosis, I think that you have not done her a service. All too often, patients and parents of patients, through their generally one experience, mistakenly believe that identical procedures are appropriate for others and identical or similar results can be expected. Chances are that you would not have felt comfortable knowing that your child's case was only the second of its kind that your doctor treated. Though I am certainly critical of YOUR efforts here, my comments are really directed at those who might in the future contemplate reporting such anecdotal comments with such an assurance, as did you, that it necessarily applies to others.
     
  12. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    18 year old needs answers!

    I was born with club foot on the left. Every week my foot was rebroken and then caster then i had surgery when at 10 months. Throught my childhood i was very active as I continure to do so. Have not had problems with it all. My calf muscle has always been a lot smaller then my right calf and i have always been made fun of for that. I cannot curl my toes or rotate my foot that much. In addition my left leg is 1.5 inches shorter from the hip. My thigh is 1.5 inches smaller. Calf is 1.75" smaller. I read posts that the calf muscle is smaller. Will I be able to change that if I continue to work it out?
     
  13. Tinku

    Tinku Guest

    Hi,
    I just had my 20 week anomaly scan and it is noticed that my baby is having isolated club foot in the right leg. All other structures are normal for my baby.I am totally devastated after hearing this as I was expecting our perfect first baby.Both in my husband's family and in mine have no history of club foot or other genetic disorders.I consulted my doctor and she says it is completely curable and no need to go for karyotyping as there is no other abnormality seen in the scan.Also I had done Nuchal(I think this is the spelling) scan at 12th week for screening Down's syndrom and that scan was perfect. Still i am very much worried.I am not able to sleep or concentrate thinking on this.Can my baby be normal as all other baby.Is this curable? Can I know the severity of club foot before birth? i heard the positional club foot is easily curable.How can I know my baby's is positional or structural.I am sorry I am asking too many questions..but i am totally upset.please help me
     
  14. caf002

    caf002 Guest

    Greetings.

    I am absolutely amazed that no one has mentioned the magnificent work and success that has been achieved by the Ponsetti method of treatring the juvenile club foot.

    This process may involve serial casting, maybe a tenotomy and then the use of Dennis Boots and a variety of splint options. This method is now widely used at least in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

    I suggest you google "Ponseti method" and there is a whole raft of research data availble for this treatment. This includes chatter on "Podiatry Arena"
     
  15. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

  16. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    I'm 14 years old, my name is Connor Sirovy, Im from Iowa. When i was born i was born with club feet. I went through the cast as a baby. I had 16 cast overall, i got a new one each week then i got a surgery. Since this day i have had over 20 casts and 4 surgery's. i am in terrible pain every day of my life... if you have any ?'s about a good hospital or anything about club feet you can Contact me... My E-Mail is Sirovy2014@gmail.com Please only contact me if it is about club feet!
     
  17. FootDoc

    FootDoc New Member

    I am saddened by the fact that a fourteen year old has to be the one to initiate the search for care for his clubfoot. As a professional, I cannot get involved with medical advice to or the care of a minor without the verifiable consent of a parent or guardian.
     
  18. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    My granddaughter is almost 4 years old and was born with a clubb foot. She had a wonderful doctor who took care of her. She had to wear a cast at first and then a brace. She looks perfectly normal. She runs and plays and if you didn't know her history you would never know she was born with a clubb foot. If your child is born with a clubb foot get a good doctor and follow his or her directions to the letter and you could have a very good outcome.
     
  19. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    hi my name is holly and i have club feet, i am 22 years old and have had 22 operations and i'm going for my 23rd. when i was little they did a surgery where they turned my feet around properly, this was followed by many operations such as stretching tendants, removing bones, and switching things around to work. the worst thing i ever had done was having my ankle fused.. it only helped temporaraly.. than i found my ankle became stressed because i always felt the need to crack my foot because it felt stiff. so i finally got tired of it and asked them to remove my ankle, but they told me that they never done it before, well i had the surgery and it took me 6 months to learn how to walk again. it was the best thing they ever did for my right foot. i continue to have problems with both feet, but when you have this disability it will never go away no matter what surgeries i have, it just helps relieve pain where i have it. tendants will always need to be stretched as a child grows even into adult hood. surgeries will help the person with the disability better when they get older, because they will be able to tell the doctor where it hurts and how it hurts, the surgeries are scary and hard but they will continue throughout life, but having a supportive family really helps. i always had obstickles to get around such as sports and things i wanted to do like other people, but no matter what their are always different ways of doing all those things, but the child has to find their way. growing up i always needed that extra push when i felt like i couldn't do it anymore, or when i was in too much pain or too stressed. the pain never completely goes away from walking with this disability , but you learn how to cope with it and you always know your own limits.
     
  20. Unregistered

    Unregistered Guest

    I can offer my own relatively long-term story. . .
    My right foot only was affected. I was put in a cast at 1 day old, and remained in casts (not the same one) for the first nine months of my life. I wore a brace for some 6 months after that at least; and part time for a long time thereafter. The folks say that I learned to walk in spite of the brace. My parents DILIGENTLY massaged and stretched my foot every night for years -- until I was 7 or 8. I wore orthopedic shoes until I was 12, at which point I had corrective surgery. I so wish I knew more about the surgery. All I can say is that it did not involve my Achilles tendon, but it did relax the ever-increasing arch in my foot. After that I was able to wear, albeit somewhat uncomfortably, normal shoes. My surgeon gave my parents credit for my avoiding Achilles tendon surgery with their enthusiastic physical therapy (although as a kid, I often felt they went overboard with it).

    I am 50 now. My right ankle has little rotation, is stiff, and having a club foot has prevented me from being a runner (Achilles still too short); I have never been able to wear cute between-the-toe thong-type sandals; and. . . well, I guess that's all. My point is, my life has been, for all practical purposes, unaffected by this disability, such as it is for me (although as a teenage the sandals thing really tee'd me off).

    Until now. I am starting to have pain in my ankle whenever I am active for long periods of time -- walking on uneven terrain is the big problem if I'm not wearing boots with really good ankle support, and even that isn't reliable. I stumbled on this thread looking for a group where I can ask others if they are experiencing anything similar. I suspect that, even if they are, it isn't serious because I cannot find such a group.

    So, depending on the severity of your child's condition and their development thereafter, it will likely always be an issue in his/her life, but won't necessarily dictate the quality and/or outcomes of it.

    Take care.
     
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