by Kat Ballew

Created on: September 27, 2009   Last Updated: September 29, 2009

When my first son was born, we didn't notice that one of his feet turned slightly inward until he started to walk. This never hindered his movement or the way he walked, but I noticed it just the same and mentioned it to my pediatrician during a normal checkup. He watched him walk up and down the hallway, and after a more thorough exam he said that he would probably outgrow it.

Although in time, while the problem never got worse, it was still there. When he was 5, I was still concerned. My pediatrician still insisted he would outgrow it, but in the meantime I could take him and get him fitted for a special shoe to train his bones to grow straight. Being my first child, I wanted him to be perfect and not grow up with a foot that turned inward.

I made an appointment with Kassis Brothers, an orthopedic shoe store recommended by my pediatrician. They were great, they took a lot of time to fit him for a corrective shoes. However, this was 35 years ago and the choices for the design of corrective shoes were not in abundance. The shoe looked like a pilgrim shoe. It was brown, with a big buckle on the side, almost like a Velcro tennis shoe, but a dress shoe. They had rods built into them to force the foot straight.

Although I felt better believing I was doing the right thing to help him walk straight, I have to admit that the shoes were not very fashionable. He was young, not yet too picky about fashion, but even he did not like the shoes. He wore the shoes for a pretty long time, but it seemed as though the problem still didn't get any better.

In the meantime, my pediatrician passed away, and I had to find another one. When I took my son to the new pediatrician, I mentioned to him about the corrective shoe and how it didn't seem to be helping. He sent him to an orthopedic, who took x-rays. After reviewing the x-rays, he told me that it wasn't his foot after all. It was his hip that was making his foot turn inward. He also told me that corrective shoes would not help this, that usually children outgrow it, and if it didn't get better after a few years or if it got worse, he may need surgery.

I couldn't believe it, after all the money spent on the corrective shoes and the embarrassment of wearing them because they were "ugly", it turned out that it was all unnecessary. I suppose I was the worried mother, insisting that there was something there that needed to be fixed, instead of waiting to see if he did outgrow it. I could have truly saved a lot of money and time by listening to my pediatrician, by getting a second opinion or by having him refer me to an orthopedic. My son did outgrow it. He didn't need surgery and his foot did straighten out.

Assessing the need for corrective shoes start with a parent's observation, followed by a doctor's visit. Although the problem may be nothing, or something the child will outgrow, the importance of making sure is well worth it.

Learn more about this author, Kat Ballew.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.