Understanding the issues with foot problems in children

Posted on December 20, 2023Categories Health and FitnessTags , ,

An understandable saying is that kids aren't just little adults. The growing child has growing bones and other body systems that mean that the characteristics of clinical issues that children have are usually unique to children and are not like the issues you would probably expect in a small grownup. Since the child is growing, there are particular conditions regarding that. The developing tissues are more inclined to be damaged should they be subjected to injury. The feet are one a part of the body which is not only developing in the child, it is also susceptible to possible injury along with trauma along with force from the footwear, so there can be a lot that could fail in the foot.

One of many challenges for treating foot conditions in kids (and lots of other conditions in children seen by health professionals) is figuring out what exactly is abnormal what is actually a part of normal development. Throughout podiatry, one example of this challenge is that of flat feet. A flatter foot is part of the typical development of the child so it can be challenging to decide when the flat foot is a thing not necessarily to worry about and wait for normal development to happen or maybe if it is most likely an issue and requires to be handled. There are plenty of differing and also passionately held beliefs on this as to if it should really be taken care of or not. To confuse this even more is the fact that the majority of grown ups with a flat foot have no problems, which contributes more to the debate if flat feet really should be taken care of or not.

Also significant in this particular population can be the monitoring of the development of walking and the achievement of neurological milestones. Parents are obviously worried if there are any setbacks in accomplishing certain milestones in a timely manner and quite often seek the assistance of health professionals when they perceive just about any difference. You can find a number of clinical tests and findings that clinicians use to assess the growth and development level of children and just how well that development is advancing. Just about any delay could well be nothing but a normal deviation in normal and be nothing to stress about. However, it also might be the initial symptom of a potentially critical issue which should be watched thoroughly and have therapy begun at the earliest opportunity. It can frequently be a fine line between something being abnormal or being only a normal deviation in development. The skills of a group of competent health professionals can often be necessary to reach agreement about the best way foreward on this situation.

A podiatrist with expertise in childrens foot problems is Dr Cylie Williams PhD. Cylie has been a guest on several instances of the podiatry linked live stream, PodChatLive, which is streamed out live on Facebook along with the taped edition being on YouTube and also the audio edition is on all of the common podcast resources. In these episodes all of the above topics had been discussed at length, in particular the need to have the actual diagnosis right and also to follow the evidence centered guidelines to handle the foot and lower limb disorders.

What is the treatment of Severs disease in the foot?

Posted on June 2, 2023Categories Health and FitnessTags , , ,

Kids are obviously not small grown ups. Anatomically they are different. One of them differences is that there are growing areas found in bones in which the growth of the bone happens at. Since the bones contain these types of growing regions, injuries to these growth areas could happen. One of the more well-known of these injuries is one that is acknowledged as Severs disease which impacts the back area of the calcaneus bone in the foot. The most usual root cause of this condition is overuse. When running or walking the rear portion of the heel bone will be the first to strike the ground and this applies a lot of stress with that area of the calcaneus and causes it to be liable to injury. The usual the signs of Severs disease is pain upon physical activity at the back of the calcaneus bone and discomfort on compressing the edges of the heel bone. It could be significantly distressing in the course of and immediatly after exercise. This really is more widespread in the early teenage years. By the older teenage years, the growing region no longer exists therefore it is not possible to get this problem then.

Because the growing region of the calcaneus disappears as the kid grows up, this disorder is self-limiting and will be grown out of. Treatment of Severs disease when it's painful is aimed at alleviating the symptoms whilst waiting for the growth to take its course. Frequently simply presenting the self-limiting character of the Severs disease as well as lessening exercise levels is sufficient to assist this concern. Usually a soft shock absorbing heel pad can be used in the footwear that can help with the symptoms. Cold packs applied to the spot soon after sports activity can deal with the greater painful episodes. In case these methods don't settle things down properly, after that a more serious decrease in activity and sports activities quantities may be needed. In the most resistant cases, a walking support might have to be utilized to extremely restrict exercise.

What is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?

Posted on March 3, 2021Categories Health and FitnessTags , ,

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a inherited problem that is characterized by a progressive muscle deterioration as well as the progression of weakness as a result of alterations of a protein called dystrophin that is required to maintain muscle cells intact. DMD was initially described by the French neurologist Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne in1860. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is one of several disorders in a group known as the dystrophinopathies that also includes Becker Muscular dystrophy. The start of Duchenne muscular dystrophy signs and symptoms is frequently in early childhood. The condition predominantly affects males, but girls are affected on rare occasions. The occurrence of DMD is roughly 6 per 100,000 people.

The key characteristic of  Duchenne muscular dystrophy is muscle weakness that can start as soon as ages 2 or 3. The weakness first starts to impact the proximal muscle groups which are those that are closer to the core in the body. It's not until later when the more distal limb muscle groups will be affected. Usually, the lower limb muscles are affected before the upper limb muscles. The affected youngster typically presents with having trouble jumping, running, and also walking. Some of the other symptoms feature an growth of the calf muscles, a waddling type of gait, as well as an inward contour of the backbone. Later on, as the heart as well as respiratory muscle groups turn out to be impacted as well, bringing about issues there. The progressive weakness and spinal column muscle weakness results in an impaired lung function, which could ultimately cause an acute respiratory failure, that can be critical. Becker muscular dystrophy can be a a lot like Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but the beginning is frequently in the teenage years and the disease course for it is more slowly and is significantly less predictable when compared with DMD.

In 1986 investigators discovered a particular gene in the X chromosome that, if faulty (mutated), causes DMD. The actual protein linked to this gene had been quickly recognized and termed dystrophin. It had been this lack of the dystrophin protein in muscle tissues causes them to be weak and readily broken. Duchenne muscular dystrophy comes with an X-linked recessive inheritance pattern and it is handed down from the mother, who is referred to as a carrier. The females who are carriers have a typical dystrophin gene on a single X chromosome plus an irregular dystrophin gene on the other side X chromosome. Nearly all carriers of DMD do not themselves have the symptoms of the disease.

There is no remedy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy however the treatment might help lengthen the time an individual who has the disease can remain mobile and help with heart and lung muscle strength. The therapy opportunities consist of prescription drugs, physiotherapy and work-related therapy, and operative and other surgical procedures. Continuous evaluations of gait, swallowing, breathing and hand function are performed by the treatment team so they could fine-tune remedies since the condition advances. Recently boys whom are affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy generally did not make it much past the teenager years. More modern advancements in cardiac and respiratory treatment has resulted in a life expectancy raising and a lot of young adults with DMD may now show up at university, get married, and also have children. Life expectancy in to the 30’s has become typical.