Re: Re: Flexibility??... and ,

[Guest guest]

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Grace sounds very similar to . was diagnosed with loose joints

after her first birthday, but by the time we went back for another check up

6 months later, we were'nt as sure about the diagnosis. She does have loose

joints, but not as loose as some of the other children. Her knees do not

hyperextend, but she is very flexible in the wrists and fingers.

I think you may be experiencing the same sort of thing with Grace. That is

why I caution you to make sure that Grace is seen by either Dr. Ponseti or

other ponseti trained doctor before the day comes that you discontinue the

brace. We were going to be able to discontinue the brace a few months before

seeing Dr. Ponseti again, but did'nt because I felt uncomfortable about it.

This was about 11 months ago, instead I kept her shoes on her at night and

went out to Iowa early to have her seen. She had outgrown her shoes and

because of our last appointment when she was diagnosed with loose joints,

Dr. Ponseti felt she was most likely going to be taken out of the brace for

good. Once we saw him at the appointment, it was determined that it would

have probably been a very big mistake to do that. The one foot that was

always too overcorrected was now great, but the other foot was still too

stiff and would have most likely began to relapse if taken out of the shoes.

That's the thing about the bilateral babies, it seems for many kids, the

feet react differently to the treatments, one foot sometimes real well and

the other stubborn and a little tighter or harder to correct.So even though

one of 's feet probably would have been fine out of the brace, the

other one definitely would not have.

Since that last appointment things have gone well. Dr. Ponseti said he

did'nt need to see us again for 6-8 months. At around 7 months I sent

pictures to him and he said that unless her shoes were too small, she did'nt

need to be seen at that time, her feet looked great and the report from me

was all he needed, unless of course we wanted to see him anyway. That was

just a couple of months ago. Now we will go to see him in Sept. sometime

which will be almost a year since our last visit there and she will be

evaluated again to see if it is now time to discontinue the brace or if we

need to add a larger pair of shoes for awhile longer.

I think that most of the babies feet turn out a lot at first before they

have really gotten a lot of walking in to help the straightening process.

Once they start walking regularly the feet really start to shape up and you

notice the change pretty quickly. At least we did with . If Grace is at

the walking stage, you might just want to give her some time on her feet to

see how things go. As long as they are not turning back inward, I don't

think it could hurt to wait and see unless you are having other problems.

Holly and

Re: Flexibility??... and ,

>

>> > Has anyone else noticed that your baby/child with clubfoot is

>> very

>> > inflexible in the legs? I have noticed that Grace cannot put

>her

>> > feet to her mouth (like most babies do, including my first).

>Also,

>> > when she sits she NEVER has her legs straight or flat to the

>ground

>> > with the back of her knees down. They are always slightly bent

>at

>> > the knee and spread way out to the sides. She stands with her

>legs

>> > straight .....I just thought maybe this was something related to

>> > having tight tendons, or muscles or something. The only time I

>can

>> > force them straight is when I am rubbing lotion on them....when

>I

>> do

>> > this I can really feel the tendons that run behind the knee

>> sticking

>> > out. I know this is a silly question, but was still curious and

>can

>> > think of absolutely no one else to ask!! Thanks!

>> > Curious in NC.....

>

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