Club Foot: A Parent's Guide to a Childhood Disorder

 Considered the most common genetic birth defect of the foot, club foot is a debilitating condition affecting thousands of children each year. For parents caring for a child born with a club foot, understanding the symptoms, origin, diagnosis and treatment will provide both parents and child with the education needed to provide care of the club foot and work to ensure optimal growth and development.

As a child birth defect, club foot presents with a variety of symptoms in children. A common finding in club foot is the child's calf muscle and foot which exhibit a significant disproportion to the other, unaffected, leg. Additionally, when suffering from club foot, the child's affected foot will turn inward, the toes generally point downward and the heel is usually raised. While there is no definitive origin of club foot, it is believed to be hereditary most often passed from parent to child. Diagnosing club foot is relatively simple through physical examination by a pediatrician at the time of birth or by a pediatric orthopedist or pediatric podiatrist. While the condition can be seen through ultrasound while in the womb, many doctors will choose to confirm the diagnosis of club foot, including severity of club foot, following a CT scan at the time of birth.

Treatment of club foot in children is classified as either conservative or invasive. The route of club foot treatment will depend on the severity of the child's club foot and the point at which the diagnosis is made. For many children born with club foot, the affected foot can be immediately rotated and casted following birth followed by re-casting every two weeks. After a few years of this process, the child's club foot may be splinted or braced in lieu of casting. When club foot casting and bracing prove unsuccessful, many adolescents will undergo surgical procedures to improve club foot bone structure but only after full growth and development has occurred. Additionally, as an adult suffering from clubfoot, rapport with a podiatrist will be established and remain intact for the remainder of the individual's life as the club foot will often lead to secondary conditions such as corns thus requiring lifelong foot treatments.

As with any condition affecting a child at birth, parents are often confused and left with unanswered questions in terms of health, growth and development in the newborn. For parents caring for a child with club foot, the primary focus should be on the early intervention and bracing or casting of the foot so as to improve the condition through the crucial child development period. For more information regarding club foot, visit www.pediatric-orthopedics.com.