I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again, no child's foot should hurt. If a child's foot is hurting, something is wrong and it needs to be taken care of.

5 Signs That Your Child May Have Foot Pain

1. Your child might fall a lot

We see that a lot with kids who are pigeon toed, and they trip over their own feet, and they fall when they're running. And it makes them not want to run, because they're embarrassed when they fall. If you notice this happening, there are ways that we can control it. We'll use something called an orthotic or a gait plate that will help to straighten out the feet and allow the child to run without tripping.

2. Your child is playing sports and keeps wanting to sit out of the game

That's an indication, a clear indication, that the child is having some pain and we need to get to the bottom of this. No child should have to worry about foot pain, no child should have to sit out of their soccer game or their baseball game because of foot pain. So if that's happening, bring your child in and we'll do a comprehensive evaluation, figure out what's going on and how can we solve it.

3. Your child is having trouble keeping up with his friends

Their friends run faster, have more stamina, go farther, and that's an indication that there's something going on with your child and possibly your child's feet. If a child, for instance, has flat feet, it takes a lot more energy to run around, so you may be noticing that your child gets fatigued a lot sooner than their friends.

4. Your child is hiding their feet

That may be because they might have a plantars wart, or an ingrown toenail, or something that looks ugly that they feel that you might blame them for, that it might be their fault. Well, of course it's not their fault if they get a wart or if they get an ingrown toenail. So do, at bath time or shower time, take a look at the feet, make sure everything's doing okay. And if your child only walks around in socks, never walks around barefoot, have them take off their socks once in a while so you can see what's going on. I can't tell you the number of times parents bring children of all ages into my office because the child has had an infected ingrown toenail, never told the parent about it, and it was just by happenstance that the parents saw the foot and said it needed to be taken care of.

5. Be aware that your child may be in pain if your child is complaining of pain

Too often, we write off what our kids say and that they're just complaining or trying to get out of something. But if your child is complaining about foot pain over and over again, be aware, there could be and likely is some foot pain associated. So bring your child in and we'll give him a good evaluation and see what's going on, and most importantly, see how we can get them feeling better. We love seeing kids here in our office, and if you have any questions at all, feel free to give us a call and we'll get you in for an immediate appointment.

 

Dr. Andrew Schneider
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A podiatrist and foot surgeon in Houston, TX.