Childhood Disabilities & Disorders
- When to Seek Therapy
- Disabilities & Disorders
- ADHD/ADD
- Anxiety Disorders
- Apraxia of Speech, Childhood
- Articulation Disorders
- Asperger's Syndrome
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Birth Injuries
- Central Auditory Processing Disorder
- Cerebral Palsy
- Clubfoot
- Conduct Disorder
- Down Syndrome
- Elimination disorders (enuresis and encopresis)
- Failure to thrive/feeding disorder
- Fine and Gross Motor Delays
- Fluency/Stuttering
- Fracture
- Fragile X Syndrome
- Gait abnormalities
- Global Developmental Delay
- Hip dysplasia
- Language Delays
- Learning Disabilities
- Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease
- Mental Retardation
- Mood Disorders
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
- Oral Motor Disorders
- Orthopedic conditions
- Osgood-Schlatter Disease
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder
- Pica
- Reactive attachment disorder of infancy or early childhood
- Reading Disorders
- Scoliosis
- Selective Mutism
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Separation anxiety disorder
- Tic disorders
- Torticollis (Wry Neck)
- Additional Resources
Clubfoot
Clubfoot
Clubfoot is one of the most common paediatric orthopaedic conditions. It is present at birth and can even be diagnosed by ultrasound before birth. All tissue (bone, muscle, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels) below the knee may be affected. This condition is present in 1 in 800-1000 births. 10% of the cases are associated with a hereditary pattern. The forefoot and hindfoot are both affected. There are bony misalignments and there may also be tightness or stiffness of the foot muscles. The affected foot and lower leg appear smaller than the unaffected side.
If left untreated, the foot deformity can make walking extremely difficult and can be painful. Clubfoot is a condition that causes the foot to point down and inward. Because the foot is held into an abnormal position, the development of the foot bones and joints will be abnormal. Fortunately, when treatment is initiated early, there is a good chance of correcting the problem without surgery. Daily stretching and positioning is advised. A physiotherapist may be involved to teach the family what to look for in positioning during play.
The goal of physiotherapy treatment in conjunction with casting and orthotic fittings is to restore alignment and correct the deformity as much as possible in order to provide a mobile foot for normal function and weight bearing. Stimulating active movement (tickling, rubbing with a towel, popping bubbles), stretching of calf muscles, forefoot and heel and stimulating gross motor activity will help reduce the impairments and disabilities that the child will experience.
