Connect With Us:
Monroe Carell Jr.
Children's Hospital
at Vanderbilt
2200 Children's Way
Nashville, TN 37232
(615) 936-1000
Connect With Us:
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Parents worry about flatfeet, but flatfeet are normal in babies and early childhood.  A child's arch develops whether the child wears shoes or goes barefoot. Special wedges, inserts or heels are not necessary for the normal toddler who has flexible flatfeet. |
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One in seven children never develops an arch.  |
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 Children usually have low arches because they are loose jointed. |
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The arch flattens when they are standing up. |
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But you can see the arch when the feet are hanging free, or when the child stands on his or her toes.  |
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 Just as some normal children are taller than others, |
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some normal arches are taller than others. |
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 Wearing a pad under the arch of a simple flatfoot may make the child less comfortable... |
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 ...and wastes money!... and will not change the child's arch. |
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| A doctor is concerned if the flatfoot is:
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| Stiff: You cannot make the toes bend up or down |
Painful
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Or if the child seems to walk only on the inside of the foot instead of on all the foot. |
Last Edited: July 1, 2012
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2200 Children's Way | Nashville, Tenn. 37232 | 615.936.1000
© 2013 Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
2200 Children's Way | Nashville, Tenn. 37232 | 615.936.1000
© 2013 Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt