Flat feet in children? Orthotics or exercise? with Dr Emily 

I have a daughter that has Down Syndrome. She appears to be "flat footed" and is a toe walker. This video is very informative. Thank you!

Excellent video share doc! Many of these points we go over with our patients as well. Important also to adjust the spine, hips, tibias and ankles as needed when ready, big changes occur post treatment. And YES, must think about the patient long term (how this also affects them mentally/emotionally/socially) through youth into adulthood.

This is the case with my son. I was told he would grow out of it and now is very pigeon toed.

You're brilliant

This is extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing!

thank you, very informational

Hi Dr, thank you for well explained the situation, my 5 years old son have the same problem, he is been in process of wearing those shells and dr recently has changed it to the newer one. My question is: Can heavier weight cause this problem because my son is 5, but he is growing faster as his growth percentile is above 99% of kids in his age, and he looks like 7 years old. Also, is running improve his foot situation?

Hi Dr. Splichal, my now 3 year son's feet look a lot like this. We have taken him to a podiatrist & they gave us inserts/insoles, but not much has improved. We live in SoCal, Orange County, to be specific. Are there any specialists that you would recommend out here that we can take him to?

Please I am very very worried about my son

My daughter has the same exact issue, but actually a bit worse. Her mid foot pronates even further, essentially she has duck feet. I've been to 4 different pediatric podiatrists and one said she will grow out of it (umm, no), another said she needs to stretch her achilles tendon, another said she will need surgery to reconstruct her foot, extend the ligaments in her calf around age 12-13. She is 10 now. My question is, why wait till she's an adult where major reconstructive surgery like this would be way more disruptive in her life? Does pronation like this always cause pain in knees, hips and back down the road?

What's the rate of hindfoot flat feet vs. midfoot flat feet?

Hi Dr. Thank yu so much for your helpful video! I have a 2yr old boy and we were very much concerned about our baby boy Lt. Foot and it is getting worse since we noticed it when he was just 3month old; we took him to the pediatric orthopedist but their suggestion was"since he have an arch and good flexiability on his ankle he will be fine" but he didint rather it become more visible when he walks and stand on his barefoot since only the left one has a deformity If yu don't mind my question is: - Is it too early to do the same thing for my babe as yu advice for your 7 yrs old child Is it okay for you to send a picture and a video for yu to evaluate since we live far away from you Hope to hear from you soon Kind regards Tesfaye and selome