Children’s Foot Care

For a parent, nothing is more important than the long-term health and safety of their children. That’s why children’s foot care is such an important part of what we do at Comprehensive Foot Centers. 

Many chronic foot problems can be identified already in childhood, and are best treated at this stage of life. Issues like flat feet, gait abnormalities, and other structural and biomechanical issues can develop and continue to cause problems well into adulthood if not addressed early enough. Proper treatment, however, can help your child stay healthier, more active, and more independent their whole life long! 

Our Children’s Foot Care Services

We provide comprehensive foot care services to children of all ages, for a wide variety of conditions. Some of the most common include:

child with flatfeet

Flat Feet

Flat feet are relatively common in children. It takes time for supporting muscles and tendons to strengthen and tighten, giving the arch its permanent, natural shape. However, some children never do develop a permanent arch, and this can lead to pain, injury, and fatigue—especially when the child reaches 8 or 9 years of age.

There are two broad categories of pediatric flatfoot: 

  • Flexible: In this case, the arch flattens when bearing weight but may reappear when sitting or standing on tiptoes. Conservative treatments like orthotics and stretching are typically more sufficient to manage flexible flat feet successfully.
  • Rigid: In rarer cases, the arch may be permanently and rigidly flat, due to more significant structural problems with the feet. Rigid flat feet usually require surgical correction.

Gait Abnormalities

The process of learning to walk is awkward for every baby—even those that one day grow up to be superstar athletes. However, you may notice your little one’s posture or walking gait appears especially unusual. For example:

• Walking with toes pointed inward or outward
• Walking on tiptoes
• Walking with knees bowed outward or knocking together
• Limping

Some abnormalities self-correct in time, but those that don’t can delay developmental milestones and persist into adulthood. It’s always a good idea to bring your child in for a checkup if you observe abnormalities in their gait.

group of smiling kids

Ingrown Toenails

Ingrown toenails can occur in anyone but are very common in young children. Often, this indicates a genetic predisposition toward the condition, and the problem will keep coming back if not addressed properly. Fortunately, ingrown toenail removal is almost always a simple, one-day, in-office procedure, and partial removal of the nail matrix ensures that the ingrown part of the nail will not grow back.

Warts

Kids are highly susceptible to developing warts on the feet, due to increased exposure to the virus and underdeveloped immune systems. Most warts can be adequately addressed in 1-3 appointments with chemical or liquid nitrogen treatments. However, this may be impractical if your child has multiple severe warts. In such cases, we can also provide a hospital-based procedure to excise the wart using anesthesia and a carbon dioxide laser.

kids running over a bridge

Heel Pain

Heel pain is common in active teenagers, especially during their growth spurt years. Unlike adult heel pain, which is usually caused by plantar fasciitis, teenaged heel pain is usually caused by an injury to the growth plate of the heel bone (Sever’s disease). Growth plates are made from weaker and more sensitive cartilage, making them more vulnerable. Eventually, they will be covered by harder bone tissue, but during growth years they are exposed.

Helping Kids Stay on Their Feet

Kids are naturally active, but foot pain and misalignment can take that away from them. We love helping children of all ages with foot problems of all shapes and sizes, from stinky feet all the way to painful deformities. We pride ourselves on offering gentle, compassionate, and effective care, and do everything in our power to put kids (and their parents!) at ease throughout their entire visit. We’ll happily answer any questions or concerns you may have, too.

To schedule an appointment for your little one, complete our online contact form or give us a call at (816) 455-1155 today.