Ponseti Brace instead of Markell

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to post this because when I first had my ultrasound and they found

Jonathon's club feet I read a lot of posts on this bulletin board, and although

I hardly wrote a thing I learned a lot. It really helped me to hear what club

feet were really like, and now that I have the experience of having a kid who

made it through correction pretty easily I figured I should contribute. I was

hoping that for some of you struggling with the Markell shoes this might be a

help!!!

Jonathon has used the Ponseti brace instead of the Markell shoe, and has had

excellent results. His feet are showing an extremely high degree of retainment

of the correction. Jonathon has never had a pressure sore, blister, raw spot,

or any acute issue from the brace. He did dislike getting it put on in the

beginning for the first week or two after the casts were removed most likely due

to increased sensitivity after treatment. It did take us a couple weeks to get

his heel as " down and back " in the shoe as the instruction picture showed, but

we worked our way into it, and his feet are doing very well!

We have paid cash for the brace as Mr. is not quite all set up as a

provider with the insurance companies yet. The initial brace is roughly $350

with $22 of shipping and handling. The bar does not need to be replaced and is

$70 dollars or so. We ordered the shoes right on Mr. 's website after

discussing personally with him.

We contacted Mr. (, http://www.mdorthopaedics.org/) prior

to Jonathon's heel cord lengthening (tenotomy). The day of the tenotomy, after

the cast was removed but prior to the surgery, we had Jonathon " step " on foam in

a box (Mr. can send you the foam in a box or your Dr. may already have

some if they work with Mr. .) We Fedex'd the box to Mr. who

was expecting them. He had the shoes delivered to our home before the removal

of the casts. We brought the shoes with us to Dr. the day the last cast

was removed, and he put them on immediately after the removal of the cast.

I would strongly suggest people find a way to get their children these new shoes

instead of the Markell shoes. They are so wonderful! If your Doctor hesitates

to use them, give him or her the website information. If they are really

Ponseti certified they should be supportive. The brace was designed with input

from Dr. Ponseti. They can also call Dr. if they would like a peer

opinion (www.orthoforkids.com)

Jonathon has had " normal " feet for a few weeks now and it is wonderful.

Clubfoot can turn into such a long drawn out experience full of suffering. I

believe the Ponseti brace and adherence to the Ponseti method helped us to avoid

this so far. Our treatment was hard and sad as it always is when anything is

wrong with an infant, but it is an already fading memory. Jonathon at 5 months

old has “normal” looking and functioning feet. He exhibits no pain when we

point or flex his foot and he is a happy go lucky little baby. I feel so

relieved that the worst of our ordeal is over and wish this for every family and

child who was born with club feet.

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