Treatment for non-clubbed feet that have significant in toeing?

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I'm hoping that one of you will have some information about the

situation I encountered this evening. I was taking my kids to get

haircuts and I had put 's shoes on before we went. As soon as

I got to the salon, a woman says, we have one of those too. She was

referring to the shoes. So as we are talking about it she says that

her son, 2 1/2 years old, began intoeing when he began walking. He

does not have a diagnosis of clubfeet. She has been fighting with

the pediatrician about the necessity for treatment because the child

falls when he tries to run. I looked at his feet and they are

straight feet that turn in at the ankle. Anyway, she finally went to

a " specialist " , who isn't really a specialist at all. He sent her to

some kind of an orthotic fitter who gave her a pair of sneakers (not

Markell's, not a corrective shoe at all) with a bar that clips on to

the rubber part of the sneaker!! The sneakers are set at 90 degrees!

He wears them while he naps and he is supposed to wear them while

sleeping but since he is 2 1/2 he just takes them off. This child

has not had any sort of treatment, just these sneakers set at 90

degrees.

This sounds really strange to me. From everything I have learned,

shoes do not provide correction, but prevent relapses. 90 degrees

sounds like it would be torture to a 2 1/2 year old who has had no

previous treatment. I gave her the information about 's doctor

and encouraged her to get a second opinion.

What is it called when there is just intoeing? (Besides pigeon feet!)

I'm hoping someone will have some feedback about this. I didn't want

to scare this mother by telling her I thought her son's treatment

was pure crap, but it sure sounds that way to me.

Thanks.

Donna

mother to (13), (6), Jakob (3), and (12

months) with corrected bilateral clubfeet, FAB 12-14/7