RE: Periods of looser joints

[Guest guest]

ME, MY SON AND A GREAT AUNT ALL ARE/WERE TOE WALKERS. Lodin can walk but is

very unsteady.

AUTUMN

_____

From: Thing1973@...

Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 9:22 PM

To: ceda

Subject: Re: Periods of looser joints

In a message dated 8/27/2004 3:31:53 PM Pacific Standard Time,

bfhalkett@... writes:

>>>>>Hi Liza:

Interesting, someone else who walked on their toes. Her heal never

flattened out as would normally occur and it was immensely difficult to

find shoes that would stay on other than high top Rebok type sports

shoes that we literally were tying on to her ankle to keep them on. Her

foot particularly was very narrow...and the ankle quite lax.>>>>

My feet are AAA at the heels, but flatten out at the front, so shoes are a

nightmare too! Currently the only ones I can wear is one sandal style from

SAS

that adjusts both front and at the ankle, plus a special custom pair of

Z-Coils in a 5 narrow. I remember wearing multiple pairs of socks to be

able to fit

the regulation KEDS tennis shoes back in school gym.

She has a bunion and one foot that is almost a full size larger than the

other. As a result one shoe is always very loose fitting and she still

has to wear lace ups....size 11 no less. My left foot is also 1/2 size

larger than the right. Problem with lace-up shoes for me tho is my feet are

sensitive to heat/sweat and break out if they don't have constant air

circulation.

So even in the rain, I'm usually wearing my sandals.

Purchasing shoes upsets her totally as she can never wear slip on shoes,

one is always way too loose and won't stay on. It is the bane of her

life that she can never get any dressy type shoes even for a special

events. Sandals are next to impossible to buy. Large sizes always seem

so wide. We tried everything, orthotics for a time even.

The toe walking made life very difficult at school as she was teased and

always stood with one leg and knee tightly pressed up against the other,

as though she needed to go to the bathroom, but I realise this was to

tense the muscles and keep herself upright. She did not have a stable

base so others could push her out of lines and such very easily. There

were an immense number of falls in childhood. Really tough. Do you

remember any of this? Mirrors my childhood, posture etc exactly! Nowdays I

walk with both thighs even pressed together so my knees support each other &

my

loose hip doesn't turn to the inside. Try doing that with crutches, LOL. I

think I had a new sprained ankle twice a month all the way thru my school

years. My daughter also falls all the time...off the stage in the

auditorium once

even! She hates the stairs at school, especially when people bump into her.

She still walks on her toes some, and one foot points outward to the

side a fair bit. When she is toe walking I know that her blood pressure

will be lower even than usual so it also had to do with keeping the

muscles tight to prevent pooling in the lower limbs. She prefers to keep

shoes on at all times in the house as they help to compress the blood

vessels in her feet and reduce pooling in the vessels. Also give

stability as ankles are NOT stable to this day. I used to like to walk

barefoot, but now my heel needs the support of a short hell, so I have to

put on my

shoes to go to the bathroom at night even. While working and reaching for

stuff in my kitchen (I'm short anyways), I find myself on my toes every

minute

and have to force myself to walk with my heel hitting the floor first.

High heals are an impossibility as ankle is too unstable. Had better

ankle stability before surgery when she toe walked. So if you are still

toe walking and have reasonable ankle stability don't fret about it.

The most painful aspect was that when we identified all the difficulties

created doctors would never clarify the lax ligaments as the problem and

with her muscles so tight it was not obvious that lax ligaments were the

problem. Doctors were deaf to the problems and would not help re

solutions. Actually I did wear heels as a teen and they were much like

walking barefoot on my toes. But when I had my son, I couldn't tolerate the

pressure on my toes after that when in heels. Yet I can still walk barefoot

on

toes??? Doctors never spotted my real issues either, tho I remember them

advising

my mother to make me wear " sensible shoes " as a child. So I had those awful

clunky black & white oxfords while other girls got the cuter Janes.

It would have saved me so much anxiety and help me problem solve if they

had just been honest and clarified the too elastic ligaments. Basic

elastic ankle supports could have helped or ankle bracing. Amazingly,

she had no ankle or bone pain with walking, though there was lots of

burning pain in her toes first thing in the morning when she had her

feet over the side of the bed. Too painful to tolerate the touch of

socks and by times she would go without them. There were some very,

very difficult times during which we were given no understanding as to

the cause so of course I was not able to advocate adequately for her at

school. Do you recall any of this or did your mother identify these

difficulties? I mainly had the constant ankle sprains...even once broke a

bone in the side of my right foot & they assumed it was a usual sprain for a

couple weeks before bothering to xray it. Later after my son was born and

the

feet swelled and hurt more, a smart doctor took a set of standing xrays. My

right ankle was completely dislocated, the leg bone resting on a bone spur

on the

outside right of the ankle joint. The joint has worn so much it is

triangular instead of round. The docs wanted to fuse both ankles, but I

tried

chiropractic instead. She got the bones realigned & I've done as much

exercise as

possible to keep the muscles supporting that joint. It doesn't bend as well

as

the left, but it is still very functional and not too painful. However, the

years on walking on it all wrong probably contributed to my hip wear on that

side.

How old are you and do you have ankle pain now after walking? If your

ankles are stable enough to wear regular shoes you are very luck indeed. I'm

48, currently the ankle is OK to walk upon, but the knee/hip are non-weight

bearing until they replace the hip. Just one style of the SAS sandals are

all I

wear, as they have a slight lift to the back and adjustable straps over the

toes and across the ankle. I have a couple " dressy " pairs of low heels with

ankle straps also, but if we're at an event where I have to wear them, I do

a

lot of sitting .

Liza

Bernie>>>>