Force is a vector quantity because it must contain a direction. If I push against a wall, I exert force against that wall. I’d like to discuss my thoughts on this topic, but before I do I want to mention that I have tremendous respect for Kelly and Mark, so this is nothing personal.Īnd also before I get started, let me briefly touch upon torque for those who need a brush-up on their biomechanics. Kelly Starrett and Mark Bell are two proponents of this. If your child continues to have the intoed feet, and it actually is causing a lot of problems with running, and walking, and daily activities as they get older into their later elementary school ages, at that time, then your doctor may refer you to a specialist.Lately, there have been many experts suggesting that for optimal squatting and conventional deadlifting performance, one should purposefully create torque by screwing one’s feet into the ground. So, if your child is walking a little funny, they've got their feet turned in, chances are, it's going to be just fine. It's just because of how they are positioned, and curled up inside the womb before they're born. There's nothing you could do to prevent it. I'm often asked, "What could I have done to prevent this from happening?" The bottom line is, nothing.Ĭhildren are born with intoeing.
Let them be active, let them play, and often this corrects on its own. There's really not much you can do about intoeing, and there's really nothing you need to prevent your child from doing. Waiting for it to get better, or see if it gets worse. So how can you take care of your child, if they do have intoeing? The thing I recommend most, is just making sure they have supportive shoes, and being patient.
The problem usually gets better when children start school, and they have to sit in chairs, and they're not sitting on the ground as much. If it's caused by the thigh bone being turned in, the main treatment is simply having the child not criss cross their legs while sitting down. When it's caused by the shin bone being turned in, it usually gets better once the child starts standing, and walking for a while, usually around age 5. Once your child is diagnosed with intoeing, how do you treat it? Most children really don't need any treatment at all. X-rays normally are not needed to diagnose intoeing. So how is it diagnosed? Usually as pediatricians, we just need to watch your child walk to see if they have intoeing, and what it's from. That's usually something you pick up at birth. If your child has just the front part of the foot turned in, that's not intoeing. So it's not just the feet, like you would see in intoeing from the shin bone, but it actually is more the whole leg. It causes the knees, feet, and toes to point inward. That condition is also caused from birth. For children over 2 years old, if this intoeing is still present, or it's new, it's most common cause is due to the thigh bone being turned in at the hip. It's called tibial torsion, and it's caused because of how the baby is positioned when it's still inside the mother's womb before birth. That bone may be actually turned in a little bit. It's caused by the shin bone, which is the tibia, the bigger of the two bones in the lower leg. So what does cause intoeing? Intoeing is observed in children less than 2 years old most often. A lot of people will refer to it as pigeon toed. There are several different causes, but it's very, very common in babies, and young children. Gellner: So what is intoeing? It's just like it sounds. Cindy Gellner, and today's topic on The Scope is Intoeing. Gellner: A common concern parents have, is that their child's feet turn in.