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My son has been a toe walker since he first started to walk. The doctor says it's idiopathic toe walking and it may or may not resolve on it's own. He is not diagnosed with any disorders. It is just a habit. He says he doesn't even realize he's doing it. When I call his attention to it, he gets down and walks normally.
He has had special shoes and AFO's and they didn't work. The doctor said he wouldn't consider surgery. I'm concerned he will have problems walking. Does anyone have any personal experience with this?
No. I was reading about Chiropractic and I was trying to decide which might be better.
I would for sure get a PT evaluation. It could be correctable but the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to correct. I don't think its a Chiropractic issue, it would be treated by a physical therapist.
My daughter had the same condition. We eventually went to an orthopedic surgeon who has experience with this when she was 6 years old. He was conservative in his approach and suggested serial casting for her first. This entailed casting both legs (below the knee) for two weeks increments and increasing the angle of the ankle with each new set of casts. She did six weeks (three sets of casts) and it did work.....for a while. The problem is that she started to go back up on her toes again and eventually we were back in the same spot. So, when she was 8 we opted for the bilateral tendon lengthening surgery. Both her tendons were notched to allow them to lengthen and she was put in casts for another six weeks. She had some PT after the casts came off to help her learn to walk properly and she has been fine since (she is 14 now).
Two things:
One, she would not put her heels down because it was uncomfortable and didn't feel right. If your son is able to put his heels down and it doesn't bother him, then surgery is probably not the route for you.
Two, PT usually does NOT help with idiopathic toe walking. The reason is that the amount of time spent in PT is usually outweighed by the amount of time the spend walking on their toes. In other words, the habit of being on toes usually overrides any of the PT.
I would say that you should have him evaluated by an ortho that is expert in this area. They will tell you the best course and will make sure that there is nothing else going on (Cerebral Palsy is one thing that they check....but that is usually only when one leg is affected).
Idiopathic toe walking tends to run in families. I did it, my Dad did it and then both my daughters. Three of us outgrew it, one didn't. So......get him evaluated and see what they say.
Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
A friends son did this and the doctor was the one to point it out. After asking her a few questions he determined they had set up the little walker with the wheels (what is that called?) too high, forcing him to move about on tiptoe.
They took him to physical therapy to reteach him how to walk and lengthen the calf muscles, but he was still young - like 3 or 4, at that point.
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