Re: SHOES WONT STAY ON!!

January 27, 2006

,

Glad you're here!

It sounds like your son's foot isn't corrected. Perhaps he has a

difficult foot that your doctor just isn't used to working with.

Who is your doctor? How old is your son now? Do you have a way to

get digital pictures of his foot posted for us on the CFPics group?

We're here to help!

& (3-16-00, lcf)

>

> hi.. i just found this site.. i need advice ASAP!!

>

> My son was born with clubfoot of the right foot. He went thru the

> Ponseti casting, and then issued the Denis Browne Bar and shoes.

We

> could not get that boy to keep those shoes on for more than a few

> hours no matter how or what we tried. For over a month, we tried

so

> many different things. His foot started turning back in, so the

> orthopedist started the casting again. After 2 additional weeks,

the

> casting was relieved and a foam mold was taken of his feet for a

> special pair of new sandals Dr Ponseti just came out with. They

get

> fitted next Friday.. My only concern is, the reason we couldnt

(and

> unfortunately still cant) get his shoes to stay on him, is that

his

> foot wont go flat enough against the bottom of the shoes. His heel

> stays close to the top of the shoe, making it very easy for him to

> pull his foot out. I cant bend his foot up enough to make it

> completely flat. I dont know if i should request the casting be

> restarted (yet again...) or perhaps opt for surgery. (which i want

> to stay away from.. i've heard too many horror stories about kids

> and adults getting this procedure only to have pain for numerous

> years.) I feel like I am at fault for not being dillegent enough,

> though i have tried anad tried.. everytime the shoes do get put on

> him, he cries so much he passes out, only to wake up an hour

later,

> in pain and i assume with cramps in his feet, and starts screaming

> again.. a mother can only handle so much..i feel like a bad parent

> for intentionally causing her baby so much undeserved pain..

>

> If anyone has any advice, please please give it up! im dyin here!

>

> Rowe

>

January 27, 2006

, just curiousity...was the doctor that treated your son on

Dr. Ponseti's list of certified doctors? It almost sounds to me (and

I'm fairly new at this) as though the foot does not have enough

dorsiflexion - the bending of the foot upward toward the knee. Was a

tenotomy (heel cord lengthening using a tiny scalpel just to snip

the tendon) done? If not, then it may very well be that his heel

cord is too tight. In the shoes, the heel may not

immediately go flat in the shoe - it can take several weeks for the

heel to come down. But in the other shoes (the Markells, for

instance) the heel needs to be all the way down. If the foot is not

completely corrected, then there's no point in going into the new

brace, as the brace only holds existing correction and does

NOT actually correct. So more casting and/or tenotomy may be needed.

Here is a link to a website on Ponseti's method. In it you will find

an additional link to certified doctors in the method.

Best of luck.

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/orthopaedics/cl

ubfeet/index.html