Well my now 2 year old daughter was having problems falling constantly and I realized her left foot turned in quite a bit when she wallked. Then when she learned to start running her legs and hips make a windmill motion were they go out and around kind of looking and across her body like she looks like shes going to fall over. The pt told me she isnt worried but my moms been a nurse for 25 years and asked her fellow collegues and they told me that it wasnt normal after watching a video of her and to go see a pediatric ortho! Im stressed and nervous does anyone have any ideas or seen this before?
Edited: So the pt was referred to the Physical therapist that her doctor referred to for an evaluation. The Physical therapist told me she wasn't concerned and she thought the windmill action was her way of coping with falling all the time cause of her one foot turning in some. It wasn't noticed before because she didn't start really having problems out of normal toddler until now and it has become more apparent.
See if there is a Shriner's Hospital near you. All treatment is free and they specialize in orthopedic issues.
Get her to pediatric orthopedist ASAP. Actually this should have been corrected long ago.
Is this why she is in PT? Or was she there for something else? What does the pediatrician say? Your daughter has been doing this for at least a year and no one has seen it? Show the video to the pediatrician and find out what specialist should be consulted (pediatric orthopedist sounds like the right one). That specialist should watch her move but should also look at the video because kids don't always run when you want them to in front of a professional, not to mention the confines of an office.
If you're stressed and nervous, you go see someone and take all the evidence to be as forthcoming and helpful as possible. Take a few more videos so there is plenty of evidence, and find out about sending those ahead of time prior to the appointment.
There are lots of early intervention things that can be done for various diagnoses. Things get worse if you ignore them.
I think some of us reading your post are confused, as you can see below.
You write, "The pt told me she isn't worried..."
Is the "PT" a Pediatrician to you, or a Physical Therapist which is how most folks replying are interpreting it? I suspect you mean a pediatrician and not a physical therapist here--??
Please clarify. If your daughter is actually in physical therapy for some other reason, it's long, long past time someone noticed this and your therapist is lousy.
Meanwhile, whoever the PT is, your daughter needs to be seen by a specialist now. If the pediatrician pooh-poohs your concern and won't refer you to a specialist, or is slow or balky about it --- demand a referral and say that you will change pediatricians immediately if you don't get one. Some pediatricians are great while others can be very dismissive of any parental concerns (and if you say "my mom told me..." some doctors will practically laugh at you). Get your daughter evaluated ASAP by a specialist because what you describe is not normal movement.
wow! no pediatrician has picked up on this until now? at age TWO?
my son was (and is) pro-nated, pretty severely on his left foot. but even 28 years ago they picked up on it as soon as he was born, and he was put in casts, then prescribed special shoes well into the age he was walking. while it didn't totally correct his stride, it did bring his feet in line enough so that he wasn't windmilling, and in fact was really good at baseball, basketball and track.
it's going to be a LOT harder to correct now that she's ambulatory.
i don't know what you can do other than PT, which you are apparently now using. i hope it helps.
khairete
S.
I was born severly pigeon toed. When I first learned how to walk I had braces on my legs to make the straight and to teach me how to walk straight. I am still slightly pigeon toed and trip and fall over my own two feet often too but it's also because I barely lift my feet off the ground when walking.
Please don't be nervous. You will find out everything you need to since you are seeing a specialist. They will help your little one learn how to walk properly and fix how she walks. She will be fine and so will you. Take a deep breath and follow the instructions of the doctor and do the physical therapies which may be required for her.
A pediatrician isn't going to have any idea how to treat this. They deal mostly with kids being sick and the new born stuff.
Please listen to you mother. She's telling you good information.
We saw a foot doc about my grandson's feet turning in and he gave us some good exercises to do with kiddo every time we thought about it. We helped strengthen his hip joints by doing hip stretches when he was getting a diaper change or any other time he'd be still and lay on his back. We did about 10 different movements with him numerous times per day.
He can walk and talk at the same time now. He is still bowlegged because he gets that from his dad but his feet point forward now. When he runs it's a lot more normal too.
A podiatrist can help but if this is strictly a hip issue then the pediatric ortho doc is the way to go.
Again, pediatricians are good docs but they only focus on things in their field. They are not qualified to treat a lot of things that people expect them to know all about. That's why the world is full of specialists.
We don't normally go to a cardiologist for pregnancy and births even though they have delivered babies when they were in medical school. Everything would come out eventually but you'd really want an OB/GYN there if there were complications.
Same with pediatricians. They've studied it all in medical school then put their focus on their field. A good pediatrician should tell you they can't answer your questions then tell you to find a pediatric ortho doc. Why not just go ahead and do that now?
Call your insurance and find out who they have contracts and if they need a referral to show need.
I have to tell you that one doesn't grow out of being pigeon-toed (apologies, Julie.) I am pigeon-toed. If I had not gone to a pediatric orthopedist when I was a little girl and worn special shoes, mine would be so much worse now than it is.
I still toe in. It hurts my hips if I try to walk totally straight for a long period of time. But, it is so much better than when I was little.
I URGE YOU to take her to the pediatric orthopedist. It's important to do it.
Hi J.,
I would see a upper cervical principled chiropractor. Sometimes a leg problem is a hip problem that is a back problem. When things are misaligned in the spinal column (your neurological system's lifeline), multiple things ARE affected. I was a sickly child until I discovered chiropractic. My children have been in chiropractic care since day one. I have seen many children healed in these ares. If you don't have a chiropractor or know of one in your area, go to upcspine.com and look for one in your area.if they can't help, they will send you elsewhere but I believe it's the best place to start.
God bless,
M.
I would ask for a referral to a specialist, to rule out other issues.
What does her pediatrician say?
Start there. Sooner the better.
Take her for an assessment by a pediatric ortho surgeon who specializes in foot deformities. Some kids don't grow out of being pigeon toed - though some do. She can be put in stretching casts to correct her feet and with PT you can help her work on her gait. I don't understand the edit as to why the therapist is not concerned with her leg movement as it just caused by her intoeing. The intoeing needs to be corrected to correct her gait.
Iowa City are world renowned for their pediatric ortho department if that is close to you.
Take her to a pediatric orthopedic specialist. Don't know where the biggest city closest to you is but go ahead and find one. I live in a top ten size wise city and we only have two. Get her evaluated....call ahead for a cash price if not covered by your insurance. It may be covered later if they find an issue.
I was severely knock kneed and pigeon toed. I had to wear corrective shoes for many years as a child to fix it. My grandmother's legs were the same way and hers were never corrected. SHE insisted that my mom take me to the doctor and I am super grateful!!
When in any doubt go to the specialist!!!
One of my friend's children has eyes that were not aligned. (My daughter had the same issue so I was hyper aware of the problem). I told my friend and she got so mad a me and told me off. Said her pediatrician told her that the eyes were fine and I was just seeing the issue everywhere because my own daughter had it. I apologized. That child is now blind in one eye and they are trying to patch the good one and she wears super thick glasses, and will have vision issues for life. When caught early the prognosis is really good. She doesn't talk to me anymore...and I understand why. My point is that if people are telling you there is possibly an issue and they care about you and your child. Get it checked out by a specialist!!!!!
It's perfectly normal and she will outgrow it. I have a toddler that runs exactly as you describe. That's how they run. They also fall all the time...
And my mom worried about my oldest's turned in feet. I did research. Normal. A side effect of being in our bellies. Since no doctor had spotted a problem, it's probably within the realm of normal.
Grandma's worry a lot. Don't listen to them. Like seriously.
