Pigeon Toed or In-toeing Information.

My daughter had this problem when she was a toddler. As funny as it sounds I mentioned it to my mother-in-law and she told me to start putting my daughters shoes on the wrong feet. IT WORKED! It was extremely funny when the baby sitter called me(at work laughing uncontrollably) to tell me that my husband brought my daughter to her with her shoes on the wrong feet. Anyway with her shoes on the wrong feet it forced her toes to point out. I mostly did this while we were at home and she was running around. I did my best not to take her out this way. It didn't bother her in the least and within a few short months corrected her in toeing! Hope this helps.
K. G

I still remember putting my little brother to bed, and having to put on his shoes and hardware to correct the same problem. His shoes were attached to a small bar that held his feet in the outward position. It was not really painful, just uncomfortable at first. He slept just fine, and has not had any problems. I think he wore the shoes for a little over a year, and it did correct his problem.

One of my daughters had that when she started walking. The doctors all said that they do not give leg braces or do anything about it any more. They said that it would correct itself as she got older. It did cause her to trip and fall if she got too excited and did not pay attention when she was running but by the time she was 3 her feet did straighten out on their own just like they said.

My son is now 6 yrs old & still has that with both feet. His comes from his shin bones though, they are curved inward causing the feet to point inward. The doctor pointed this out shortly before his 2nd b-day. We soon after went to Shriners Hospital in St Paul, we were told they are the only pediatric doctors that deal with that. They did x-rays & said, most of the time it corrects itself. And from the studies they have done they don't show much improvement from the leg braces that they put on some kids to sleep with. The Dr. also said they do not do surgery until at least 6 yrs of age & that is only for severe cases. He also said that the feet point inward, is really not a big deal. If the child can walk, run & doesn't seem to mind- we really shouldn't either. But my son continues to get a check up at Shriners Childrens Hopspital every year. They say that he's "fine" every time. His feet being like that do not affect him running or anything at all, he did have trouble rollerblading when he was younger but can do it fine now. The Dr. also said unless they want to become an olympic runner it should not affect them in the long run.

But if your grandson is having trouble running, that could also be because he is still a little guy learning how to operate his feet! And with the feet pointing inward, that would make it more tricky! I hope this helps a little bit, let me know if you have any questions!!

In-toe or pigeon toe is a retained infant reflex; in utero the baby's feet naturally are curved inward. Uncurling the feet (and the leg/hip) is also a natural process facilitated by developmental infant reflexes. So, many children do grow out of it. However some children need help to realign their bones and fascia and to properly organize their neural system. Two therapies that provide gentle, non-invasive support are developmental movement therapy (focus on Babinski reflex) and myofascial release through craniosacral therapy.

C. Burns, craniosacral therapist and developmental movement therapist

My son who is 12 now was born with bi-lateral club foot. Both of his feet were turned in. He had to have surgery to fix this at the age of 7 months. I strongly suggest you get your grandson checked by an orthopedic doctor to make sure his problem does'nt require surgery. They told us that our son would never walk correctly without the surgery. Good luck to you and your grandson, I hope everything works out for the best. R.

I was pigeon toed when I was a kid. My parents took me to a podiatrist and I wore special inserts in my shoes which over a period of time, corrected the problem. I am now 34 years old and am having complications again from being previously pigeon toed. It does return, or at least in my case it has.

I am really surprised the doctor's haven't done something already! I was born with severe in-toeing and had casts put on before I was a month old to correct it! I realize that was 30 years ago, but I have enjoyed my life ever sine with feet that both point perfectly forward! (and i was none the wiser as the casts were off in six weeks!)

Hi,
When my daughter was born her left foot was turned in. At the hospital they said oh, it should grow normal, it is like that because she got a little cramped in the womb. My doctor checked it at every visit and finally at three months I told her it is not getting any better. We went to a specialist who said that her leg needed to be casted. They casted her leg that same day. We had to go back every 2 weeks for a new cast. The casting was slowly turning her foot to a normal position. After three months she had to have surgery on her tendon to help allow her foot to go straight. Then she had her last cast put on. After the cast was removed she was placed in Dennis-brown-bar shoes. Her case, according to the doctor was not very serious. She had to wear the shoes 24 hours a day 7 days a week until about 10 months, now she wears them only at night. She will need to wear the shoes until she is about 3 or longer depending on how it progresses.

First, my doctor said specifically that this does not correct on it's own and treatment should begin as early as possible. If you would like to message me privately your e-mail address I will send you the information that we got from the specialist on the first visit. It talks about everything in detail and maybe it will give his parents an arguing point with his doctor to make sure that he gets into a specialist to have his feet checked. I hope this information helps.

Helllo, my daughter is 7 yrs old and has the same problem, so last year we took her to physical therapy, it worked really well, then they wanted her to get orthodicts, which we haven't done it yet, but they say if you don't do anything about it they could have knee problems in the future,
problem is that the orthodicts are going to be very expensive and will probably have to get new ones every so often since they are still growing so much. That is our delay for now, but start off with p.t. And go from there.
Good luck!!

M.:

I don't know if this advise will work with such a young child.

I personally had the same problem - but I was 5 when the correction was made.

Quick and simple - put the right shoe on the left foot, and the left shoe on the right foot.

Over a period of one year - it corrected my problem. I'm now 46 years old and don't have a pigeon toe problem that others notice.

Best of luck.

I come from a family of five girls, and we all wored corrective shoes as children. None of us is pigeoned toed today. You have to start young or else it is very hard to correct.

Hello

My daughter is know 23 and she never grew out of it. She has a son that is 2 and he has the same problem. The doctor wanted to due surgury on her, but the problem didn't seem effect her abilty to run or walk so we decided against the surgury. Someone told me that if I made her wear her shoes on the wrong feet that it would correct the problem. We tried that for several months and that just made it diffecult for her to walk. When we went to the grocery store I got lots of comments about putting her shoes on the wrong feet.

A Little about me. Mother of two 23 & 21. I have two grandchildren 2 & 11m and two more grandchildren on the way both are due in September 6 & 9th.

My granddaughter has that problem also. She is 17 months old. Her doctor suggested putting the shoes on the wrong feet, but she didn't like it very well. My daughter in law asked the foot doctor about it when she was in her office one day and was told that baby shoes now days are to soft sided to do much good by putting them on the wrong feet. She said if we saw her sitting with her legs behind her and her feet sticking out, to change her to sitting with her legs in front of her. She said it has to do with the muscles, not the bones. We do correct her if she sits wrong and she is a smart girl, so all we have to do is say "Emma put your feet out in front" and she will do it on her own. I see a difference already.

My now 4 year old had this, our pediatrician wasn't concerned. He told us stretch his feet regularly, He is now fine, his feet no longer turn in.

My nephew had both feet turned in. The orthopedic built a brace on a pair of his shoes. He had to wear this brace at night. I don't remember how long, but it really worked. The first week of nights were awful. The baby cried alot, but then got over it. Now, I have a grandson whose feet turn in. My daughter didn't have anything done about it. He is now 13 and his feet still turn in. I wish she would have had something done when he was little. Good luck!

I don't know about small children, but I coached track for seven years at the college level. Every once in a while we would get an athlete whose toes turned in on one or both feet, or pointed outward.

The intense training schedule would often cause them to begin suffering from injuries related to their bio-mechanical problems. At that point, we would send them to a local physician who prescribed a routine for them in the weight room and with elastic bands to strengthen the weak side of their leg.

He explained it to me that the side of the leg which is weakest is dominated by the side that is stronger. The stronger side will pull the foot toward it. So, if an athlete was pigeon toed, than it was the inside of their leg that was strongest.

It took dedication to the strengthening exercises but usually within one season, they were able to improve their form to the point where the original issues were unnoticeable anymore.

Don't know if that's helpful, but I thought I would throw it out there and you could decide if it was useful or not.

Hi M. L
When my oldest daughter was born she was really pigeon toed.
At that time 1959, we had visiting nurses visit new moms. She told me to take my baby to a pederatic doctor to have her checked. Well, they put casts on both her feet, up to her knees. She learned to walk on her toes. When it was time to 'change 'the casts, my baby was scared to death. And she had blisters on her ankles. That was it... no more casts. I put her shoes on wrong feet for about a month. That helped and probably the casts did also, but she is slightly pigeon toed to this day, and she she is 47 years old. My advice to you is talk to your daughter about your grandson, they more than likely do things different now days. But something should be done.
Hope this helps
J. L

My son started walking at 10 months and had bowed legs and turning in of his left foot(in-toeing). We have had him checked over the past 4 years and in that time he is no longer bowed but the in-toeing is still present. We were told at first that usually will self corrects but he is now 5 1/2 and it is still noticeable. At age 7 they will recheck it and if it has not gotten better, we were told that they could correct it but most likely it would be a cosmetic surgery. He runs as fast if not faster than most children of his age and occasionally had falls but it has gotten better. Does anyone in your family have in-toeing? I have slight in-toeing, my mom does, and my Grandmother. For the most part it is not a problem. I was told to try walking as if kicking a football and if you think about it, it does take time, but you can make it seem that your walk is straighter. Good luck. PS I was also told a majority of pro sports players have some type bowing or in-toeing so maybe he is destine to play ball someday! Good Luck, T. M

I used to work for a podiatrist. He said the easiest way to help it correct itself is to put their shoes on the wrong feet. Now you're not going to want to do this in public, but at home let him walk/run with his shoes on the wrong feet.

My daughter has the same thing. We had to wait until she was potty tained. The first Specialist we saw told me that if she didn't grow out of it they would break her legs to set them right when she turn 6. Not liking this sugestion I took her to a children's hospital and they gave her shoe inserts and built up the inside to correct the high arch. To tain her foot to go straight and then she saw a Physical Therapist that gave her exercises to strengthen her ankles so that she would learn to turn her foot out by itself. It has done wonders. It is 3 years later, she was not consistant with the exerices, but you can tell when she is wearing her inserts they help termenidiously.
Jessie

M.,

My second son, who is now 9 1/2, often fell down when running. One of his feet would turn in about 90 degrees. My mother and grandmother both insisted that I see the doctor about it. They insisted that I take him to a specialist. The doctors did NOTHING. That's right, they explained that what my son to "in toe" had to do with his hip joints. He did say that the majority of "in toeing" corrects itself. Most cases clear up as the body develops around the age of 8. My son's case is slightly different because it has to do the hip joints and will be gone by the time he is 10-12. He doesn't fall down when he runs and is one of the fastest kids in his class and has excellent balance. If you are truly concerned - see a podiatrist, they are used to these concerns and will answer your questions.

My right foot turned in as a young child- I had to wear corrective shoes for awhile- now my foot is straight unless I am extremely tired then it tends to turn in still and I'm almost 38- hope this helps!

I'm looking for an answer to this same question. I began noticing that one of my sons baby shoes kept falling off and it was always the same one so I day I got to looking at his foot trying to figure out why we kept losing his right shoes. I had always thought, when putting on his socks or shoes, that he was curling his little foot up (like babies sometimes do) but I suddenly noticed that this was not the case and his right foot indeed, turned inward...only his right foot. His left foot is perfectly straight. I took him to his pediatrican and he told me not to worry about that it would straighten itself out once he began to walk. I took his advice and just let it go. My son will be 12 years old this May and it still has not corrected itself. I hated myself for letting myself believe that that would really fix itself. Bless his heart he is always tripping over his own to feet and when he runs....I hate to say this but he looks like a gorilla hobboling from side to side. He played tee ball for 3 years and we finally gave up because he couldn't run. He was the best hitter on the team and the only child that could hit the ball without using the tee and knock it to the other side of the field but not once could he make it to 1st base without being tagged by the ball. Coaches got irritated so we just quit playing. Its sad really. Is there an insert out there for older children? I wished I would have known about the switching shoes to the wrong feet back then :(

Hello M.
I have had a few friends with children that have been pigeoned toed. They were always told to put their shoes on the wrong feet and leave them on for a good part of the day or their is also a shoe called stride rite (check spelling) and both have worked from what I have witnessed. The children are grown now and have no problems. Good luck!

I'm a PT working primarily w/ children. It is not unusual for children to be pigeon toed at this age. There is natural torsion (twisting) in the long bone (femur) and kids go from duck walking to being pigeon toed to having "neutral alignment" w/ toes and knees both pointing forward by about age 7. If it isn't impacting his ability to safely move around then I'd really stop worrying about it. Considering the "fix" for this problem is breaking the femurs and changing the amount of rotation in them (derotation osteotomy)and wearing hip spica casts for several months, unless it is really causing problems, it's best left alone.
You should know that there is a difference between club foot (which is generally casted and corrected in infancy and being pigeon toed. Wearing reverse-last shoes (shoes on the wrong feet) addresses issues at the foot and ankle and is different too.

We took my son to the doctor several times for this exact reason, the docotrs kept saying that it would correct itself. I was skeptical. But it did! He is 5 now and I would say it cleared up around the age of 3 1/2. We didn't say anything to him to make him correct it, he simply outgrew it.
Good luck.

I am a pediatric physical therapist. If your family is still concerned, ask the pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric PT. In-toeing can occur because the forefoot bones are curved inward (and it can be "fixed" or "flexible"), because the tibia (shin bone) is twisted, or because the femur (thigh bone) is rotated (twisted). If it is not interfering with motor skills, they don't usually do anything about it, If he is tripping and falling MORE THAN THE AVERAGE toddler, a PT can try stretches, taping techniques (do not try this on your own with any old random tape though). If he is a "W-sitter" start encouraging him to sit "on his butt" or "like a pretzel" (ring sitting) or to "fix your feet" and then show him the better way to sit--all care-takers should know to work on this with him.

It wont really hurt him. My father is a foot doctor and I discussed this with him. He said that in all honesty in-toeing has a lare amount of wives tales about it. But, It is really a concern for the parents, the best thing to do is get the baby some pedorthic shoes. They need to be properly fit and make sure that you are not allowing the child to "frog sit". Meaning legs underneath him feet pointed out. He also said that taking him to a chiropractor has been known to really help as well.

My son who is now seven used to walk with his feet in and on his tippy toes. I was mortified thinking that he was going to need some help. He didnt though. I just sucked it up and put him in those "ugly white shoes" (as I like to call them) and he honestly hasnt had a problem since..GOOD LUCK. Hope this helps!

Hi ! I am a physical therapist at Gillette Children's and have seen a few kids with the same issue. "In-toeing" can come either from the hip, knee, or foot. In most cases, it will correct itself as long as there is no underlying problem, which usually there is not. A baby's hips are ateverted (or rotated in, giving the appearance of in-toeing) and straighten as they bear mroe weight/walk. Some kids just do this moreso than others. Sometimes a physician will order a hip x-ray to rule out any problems, but usually this is only done if he is limping or seems to be in pain.

I'm still pigeon toed. But when I was little my mom took me to the doctor and got me correct of shoes with the bar across the bottom of them and now I have no problems running but when I'm just standing my toes do go in still.

My son has this problem. He has in toeing of the right leg. I thought it was pigeon toed. Peritrician states it is Femeral Atroversion. Which his femer is what is twisted. It happens when they are developing in the womb. The muscle gets stong and twists the bone. It will correct itself. I can alread see an improvement. He just turned 2.

It depends on the severity. The only thing I can recommend is get a second oppinion from a Dr. or more if need be.

I was a severe case of pigion toe walking as a child. The small town family Dr. kept saying I'd grow out of it. When I was getting quite a bit older my mom wasn't going to listen to it anymore so she took me to a bone specialist in Madison, Wi. I was not going to grow out of it! I could turn my feet all the way around backwards! They actually had never seen a case as severe as mine and brought in different specialists from all over to work on my case. I was kinda an experiment. I ended up having major hip surgery to correct the problem and I walk normally today. I worked in the medical field befoer becoming a SAHM and I do know that sometimes these surgeries are still neccessary, but I think they usually catch them earlier and do them at the knees. But like I said it depends on the severity. Lots of kids grow out of it also.

Our daughter walked very early (solidly by 9 months) and for the first several months, her little feet were turned in, too. We asked our doctor about it (whom we have the utmost respect for and he has never once in many years steered us wrong) and he told us not to worry. That many children quite commonly have turned in feet when beginning to walk and that as they learn to run their feet will straighten out because, as you said, they have problems running when their little feet are turned in. Now mind you, he also said to keep him posted if after several months she was still having the same issue. For us it DID correct. We also were lucky enough to have a doctor we trusted to give us his opinion. And we also bought her some shoes that went up to her ankle and tied snugly for added support.

I also was told to switch my son's shoes to so the are put on the wrong foot. It had helped my son and he is now 19.

M., i dont have any children that are pigeon toed, but however my sister was a bit when i was growing up, i dont know if this advice works, but they used to say to put her shoes on the opposite feet, the curve of the shoe should help , dont know if this works, but you never know , some of those remedies might work, it may help in running anyway, D. s

I'm dealing with this with my son right now who is 29 months. The doctor said they straighten out in 6 months or if they don't to bring him back. His is actually starting at the hip. The worst one is the left one also. I am hoping we won't have to bring him to the orthopedic specialist. He has gone to the MD and the podiatrist so far and had a screen from the public health nurse.

Hi M.,

I am a chiropractor and have seen many 20 month olds with in-toeing. It is quite common and usually goes away by the time they turn 3 years old. Sometimes, if one foot is a lot worse than the other, that can be a sign that something might be going with on their hip or pelvis. One thing you and the parents can do is watch how he is sleeping. Make sure he is not sleeping on his stomach with the toes pointing inwards. Also make sure if he is in a bed with sheets that the sheets are not too tight which could force his feet into in-toeing. Overall, I would not worry unless he is closer to 3 years old.
That is just my 2 cents. L. R.