clubbed feet

my son has got congenital clubbed feet by birth. At birth he was put in plasters so that they are easily mouldable at that stage and correction is much faster. He was in plasters for a year and then they advised surgery. Discussed this issue with a lot of orthopaedic surgeons who also said that even after a surgery there could be chances of a relapse and he has to wear special shoes for at least 5 -6 years.. So we dropped the idea of surgery and continued with his reversible shoes made of tough leather. Well, as of now , after wearing the shoes for almost 8 years, his feet are nearly 80 per cent correct. Nobody can really make out ever if they have a close look at it.. have also been massaging his feet and also exercising regularly to achieve what he is today. Nevertheless, we should not neglect anything and start treatment from the beginning so that there is no delay. Please share your experiences too with me. Im sure we will all gain from this.

Hi Shreya,

Just wanted to welcome you to BellyBelly.

I'm glad to hear that the special shoes really helped your son's feet! Thanks for sharing your story with us.

Hi Shreya.

Welcome to BellyBelly!! :)

I too was born with Club Feet or Telapies (sp?) as they are sometimes known. Both feet & at the time (1982) the worst case they had seen so far. (at the particular hospital I was born at from what I gather)

Firstly, My uncle on my dads side also had one club foot and my brother who was born with major problems and died at birth also had 2 club feet. Apart from that, no-one else has had this with their feet.

I was born by c sec and I was 6 weeks prem (and still 7pound 13! I would hate to think what I would have been full term!) anyway, I had op's on both my feet within 2 months of my birth. I had plaster casts up to my hips until i was 6 months old. They told my Mum & Dad that I would struggle to walk before 2 but I took my first steps around 16months ;)

I have always (well up until I was around 15-16) 'look after' my feet. IYKWIM.
I wore and excuse the example , "forest gump" type braces when I was quite young and then inserts from there on in ...

I always had my shoes designed and made for my feet and was never allowed to wear thongs or shoes like that, like all the other kids..

But now, Im fine, I have scars on my feet up my leg a little, but who cares? Im walking fine so Im happy with that.

When I fell pg with Jaykob, the first thing I asked them to check was his feet but they were fine.

I did meet a lady in Country Vic who had a son with one club foot and she seemed to think she did it while bending down and snapping his foot in her ribs, but I looked into it (personally) and have found no research to support that. Mostly its a space issue in the womb or just a birth defect in general from what I can gather.

But like you, I am interested in hearing from others who have experienced this. Feel free to add me to msn or email me if you want to chat!! :)

Take Care!!!

What wonderful news of your sons improvement. Hopefully this helps others in a similar situation
Cheer michelle

Our baby due in Jan is looking like she will be born with club feet. We have had two scans to confirm and on Monday will be having another scan to see the degree of the Talipes. From what the doctors said at our last scan looks like it is quite a serious case, but we have heard a lot about different kinds of treatments and the outlook seems positive.

OOOh I must go check Maddy's yello baby book, as i recall reading something that said Talipes & at the time I asked & they said it was nothing to worry about... I think it said Fused Talipes???

I must check it out, Maddy walks with both her feet turned in (her Dad was exactly the same) But it doesnt hinder her... Will let you know what i find...

I had no idea it what it meant on her book & as I said noone said it was anything to worry about!!!!

We had our latest scan for bub on Monday and club feet are still there (sounds silly but I was hoping they'd miraculously disappear over the last 10 weeks). The good thing is while 10 weeks ago they looked more serious, the doctor thinks now it won't be too much of a big deal. They don't look as bad with her being a bit bigger. I guess now we just wait until she arrives and see what happens. One thing I'm happy about is the care we're receiving from the hospital - we are going public, and they are extremely well organised and have put me completely at ease (as much as possible anyway).

Hi Rosy,
My daughter, Ava, was born in March of this year with clubfeet. I know it's a shock when you find out, but it's really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Ava had plaster for 6 weeks (they change the plaster every week), then a very minor operation to cut the achilles tendon. Then she went into special boots for 3 months full time (23hrs a day), and now she's only in them at night. Her feet are perfect and there's no way you'd pick that she had a problem. Feel free to ask me any questions - what state are you in?

Amanda

Hi Amand

We're in Queensland. Thanks for your reply. It was a shock to start with because when we imagined having a baby we imagined it to be a certain way - but in a way it's good to be brought back to earth like this because of course no baby is going to turn out the way you imagine you'd like anyway.

We have been for a couple of scans to determine the extent of the turning but you can't really tell much until she's born. So we'll just wait and see. Did you see a private specialist or go through the public system? We have so far been very impressed with the public hospitals here, they are very organised and know a lot about the problem and we have left every doctor's visit being completely confident about the outcome. We had thought though we might go private if bub needed surgery.

How has the surgery etc effected Ava's crawling walking? Is she getting around easily?

Rosy.

Hi Rosy,
You definately wont know the severity of your baby's feet until s/he is born. That's half the problem I think! We went through the public system which has been amazing - we are following a method of treatment called 'Ponsettt' treatment, which basically avoids surgery. Yes, we had the tenotomy (a minor operation where they cut the achilles tendon), but all of it has been very gentle, and my daughters feet were perfect after 6 weeks of plaster. Her development is right on track with other babies. She went into the boots at almost 4 months old and she was rolling, etc in them. She's now only in the boots at night, so it's all fine. If you like you can give me your email address and I can email you some photos of her in her boots so you get an idea. There also a great support group for clubfeet parents online - i can't remember the address as it's just in my faves page, but if you google Austfoot you'll find it. It's part of Yahoo Groups.
Anyway, please try not to worry about it too much. I know it's hard not to (I was beside myself with worry for about 2 weeks after we found out), but it really will be ok. My daughter is the BEST baby - perfect in every way. When she was born we called her feet her 'fancy feet', and now they're her 'dancing toes'.
You'll be fine,

Amanda

Hi Amanda, thanks for your reassurance. My email address is rosbutler@hotmail.com. I will have a look at that website today too.

Chloe was born last Monday, and as we had been told, has moderate Talipes on both sides. We were immediately referred to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, where they use a method called the Ponseti Method to straighten her feet, hopefully avoiding surgery.

She was put in casts this Monday (1 week old), and will have those casts changed every week for the next 6-8 weeks. She may need a tiny surgery to her achilles tendon after that, and then has to spend a month or two wearing special boots to bed at night, but after that should be fine.

We are really relieved that it is so easily fixed, and are grateful to the hospital for getting onto it so quickly. I think it will be much easier for her to go through now than it would be in 6 months time.

Rosy.

Tracey, just so you know, there are 2 types of talipes - positional and structural. With structural talipes the feet are stuck in that position and needs to be corrected over time with plastering +/- surgery. Positional talipes is essentially where due to the babies position in utero the feet were pushed into that inwards position, but can be moved into a normal position. This is very common and not a serious problem as it is not structural - if you were told your bubs has talipes but were not referred to orthopoedics for ongoing management, then I suspect it is the positional type of problem and not something to worry about.