Re: trouble with DBB and tiny feet

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

It's Dan (Emma's dad). I just finished writing when I saw this e-mail.

Since Dr. Ponseti was the one who corrected Alyssa's feet everything must be

ok with her feet. It's possible the shoes aren't on tight enough even though

it may seem they are. At first the shoes are stiff but after a week or so of

wear you may realize that they can actually be tightened another notch.

Did Dr. Ponseti set the bar for you and demonstrate how tight to set the

buckle? Are you able to easily slip your pinky between the buckle and the

tongue? If so the buckle needs to be tighter. If you have a look through the

files section you'll find tips on using the DBB. Here is the link;

http://f4.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/cJ7tP8IwXJfGY_XJEJbdwP93vcPANNw669Ia2L9rmffyhGY

ExT1XwZoGnbObzMFx6SP2ik-Wzm1Xe9WuaH9a_eERCes/DBB%20articles%20from%20Iowa/Ft

AbO_Inst.doc

I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice on this from others.

Best of luck,

Dan

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

Dan did say it all. One trick to making sure the feet are ALL the way

in, is to completely loosen the shoelaces (I think some may even take

them out - we never did) but loosen them so much that you can pull

the tongue all the way out. This way you can see that the foot is

ALL the way down. The feet may not be all the down to begin with,

and this is why they keep pulling out. Some people suggest socks with

grippers on the bottom (Old Navy seem to work best). We used the

thinner socks with grippers on the bottom, but I've heard of others

using the thickest socks they can find. Once you are certain the

foot is all the way in, and the heel is touching the bottom, hold it

there (at first this may be a two person job, but you'll find that

eventually you'll be able to do it in your sleep - alone) and begin

relacing the shoe. We always buckle the shoe first (you'll feel like

it's SO tight, but it really needs to be VERY tight...the redness is

more likely because of her skin sensativity rather than being too

tight). After you buckle the shoe, then proceed to finish up lacing

the shoe and tying them fairly tight too. I always found that the

tight buckle was more important than the tight tying. Not sure what

others think/feel about that. Your little one will probably cry for a

few days out of frustration more than pain. This won't last long,

there really is light at the end of the tunnel!

If you do have any questions for Dr. Ponseti, he's usually very good

at getting back to you right away either via email, or the phone.

Oh, like Dan said, the shoes are quite stiff right now, but will

loosen up with wear. I've heard of ways to loosen them up more

quickly than what your child can do with normal movement, but I

honestly can't remember any of them because we didn't need to do

them. I'm sure on the DBB hints link that Dan gave you you'll find

info regarding that, or somebody on here can help you out with it.

Good luck!!!!!

Holly

Zachary 7/27/02

Unilateral Right Clubfoot

Treated by Dr. Ponseti

14 hrs/day DBB

> Hi Kim,

>

> It's Dan (Emma's dad). I just finished writing when I saw

this e-mail.

> Since Dr. Ponseti was the one who corrected Alyssa's feet

everything must be

> ok with her feet. It's possible the shoes aren't on tight enough

even though

> it may seem they are. At first the shoes are stiff but after a week

or so of

> wear you may realize that they can actually be tightened another

notch.

>

> Did Dr. Ponseti set the bar for you and demonstrate how tight to

set the

> buckle? Are you able to easily slip your pinky between the buckle

and the

> tongue? If so the buckle needs to be tighter. If you have a look

through the

> files section you'll find tips on using the DBB. Here is the link;

>

>

http://f4.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/cJ7tP8IwXJfGY_XJEJbdwP93vcPANNw669Ia2L9rm

ffyhGY

> ExT1XwZoGnbObzMFx6SP2ik-Wzm1Xe9WuaH9a_eERCes/DBB%20articles%20from%

20Iowa/Ft

> AbO_Inst.doc

>

> I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice on this from others.

>

> Best of luck,

> Dan

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

Another thing that may help is to completely remove the tongue and

laces, push your daughters foot all of the way down and make sure it

is flat, then draw a line in the shoe where her big toe ends. this

way every time you put her shoes on you'll know that her feet are

all of the way down. be sure to have her socks on when you do this

so that you get an accurate meaurement. when we left iowa our son

had his brace and it came off all of the time once he was finally

wearing it - turns out the shoes were too big. i think they were a

size one and we had to go down to a zero, that helped a lot! hope

all of these ideas help you ~ good luck!

Tia & Kelby

8-3-01 bilateral

[Guest guest]

Other things we had to do...padding in the shoe with plastazote,

gripper sock, lacing the shoes so they tie at the toes, plastazote

also on the tongue of the shoe. He does stay in them now. Be

careful putting them too tight. We did this and caused terrible

sores on his foot!

> > Hi Kim,

> >

> > It's Dan (Emma's dad). I just finished writing when I saw

> this e-mail.

> > Since Dr. Ponseti was the one who corrected Alyssa's feet

> everything must be

> > ok with her feet. It's possible the shoes aren't on tight enough

> even though

> > it may seem they are. At first the shoes are stiff but after a

week

> or so of

> > wear you may realize that they can actually be tightened another

> notch.

> >

> > Did Dr. Ponseti set the bar for you and demonstrate how tight to

> set the

> > buckle? Are you able to easily slip your pinky between the

buckle

> and the

> > tongue? If so the buckle needs to be tighter. If you have a look

> through the

> > files section you'll find tips on using the DBB. Here is the

link;

> >

> >

>

http://f4.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/cJ7tP8IwXJfGY_XJEJbdwP93vcPANNw669Ia2L9r

m

> ffyhGY

> > ExT1XwZoGnbObzMFx6SP2ik-Wzm1Xe9WuaH9a_eERCes/DBB%20articles%

20from%

> 20Iowa/Ft

> > AbO_Inst.doc

> >

> > I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice on this from others.

> >

> > Best of luck,

> > Dan