Sunday, December 21, 2008

Four boots are better than two?

At Hannah's last visit to the physiatrist, I asked him to also take a look at Isabelle because she is a toe-walker and has been for awhile. It's difficult to stretch out Isabelle's ankles, especially on the right side where she is almost always up on her toes. And it seems like the structure of her foot has been changing as she spends more and more time up on tiptoe. We've tried cueing her to get down on flat feet but within seconds, she pops right back up.

The physiatrist said there are a lot of kids who toe walk for no reason at all and they often stop on their own. But sometimes they don't and their muscles get tighter and shorter and they develop structural, orthopedic problems. He suggested we consider orthotics so we can correct the problem early on. I'm hoping this will have the added benefit of making Hannah's orthotics more desirable to her as well (Hannah has been in a real "no boots! no boots!" phase lately). The flip side could be that I have TWO kids who fight me to put their orthotics on rather than just one. Oh the fun we will have!!!

1 comment:

Melissa said...

I hope that Isabelle's orthotics make Hannah's more desirable, rather than another pair of feet for you to fight over. As a mommy who has always had four boots to put on, I can tell you that it has become very routine and boring here...no one complains, because no one knows any different. Maybe it will be the same with you guys? Of course, your girls are older and Isabelle will certainly remember when she didn't wear boots. My guys have worn them since before they were able to walk, so they just don't know any better. I hope it goes easily! Good luck!