Pediatrics


 

We love our patients. Working with children at a young age helps create good habits for the future. Pediatric foot care is foundationally important to ensure children are comfortable and healthy in their shoe gear, so that they can continue the activities that make them happy. There are a number of ailments we treat for our young patients. We focus on establishing good practices to rebound our young patients who might have gotten injured, knowing how to care for an ingrown toenail, preventing a wart from coming back, learning what pains to take seriously, and how to fit for proper shoes. Here are a few of the many things we treat for our young patients.

 

HEEL PAIN

Sever’s Disease, also known as Calcaneal Apophysitis is a very common problem for many children during their growth years. This happens when the Achilles tendon is stretched from the back of the heel extremely, tugging at its insertion point in the back of the heel. WIth the growth plates coming together for a patient, this can be very painful as the bone expands. Treating Calcaneal Apophysitis gold standard will always include some kind of stretching protocol, combined with rest, and perhaps even a boot. At Arya Foot & Ankle, we create innovative treatment styles for our young patients so they can integrate their stretching and prevent his type of growth plate pain from slowing them down on the activities/sports they love to do.

INGROWN TOENAILS

Children notoriously suffer from ingrown toenails. The reason is often multifactorial. Some children naturally have a predisposition for the nail to dig into the skin due to the skin shape. In other scenarios it’s that the child’s feet are growing so rapidly they have not been fitted for new shoes of the proper size quickly enough. Another reason is children who play sports have a lot of stubbing of their toes in their shoes/cleats–therefore, this puts them at risk of an ingrown toenail too. Improper cutting of the nail or “picking” at the nails are another reason for children having ingrown toenails.

GAIT ANALYSIS

Concerned about how your child is walking? Come see us. Oftentimes as the bones in the leg and thigh shift and move, over the years, the gait or walking style of a child can change due to rotation as they move their stages from ages 3 to 20 years old. At Arya Foot & Ankle we generally do a gait analysis to check to see how your child is walking. Sometimes we will prescribe inserts for the shoes and specific exercises that will help strengthen their foot during gait and running, so they are properly supported so their improper gait does not get worse.

WARTS

Between the gym locker room, around the pool, public showers, walking barefoot–children are very susceptible to get warts. Plantar Verrucae, or warts are a virus. This means they are not spread like bacteria, certain people are more susceptible to getting them than others. For this reason it is imperative children understand proper hygiene to keep warts from recurring or spreading. At Arya Foot & Ankle, we treat warts in the office with minimal pain and discomfort to patients. They will leave with a kit of supplies that they will use at home to maintain the procedure done in the office. Children generally tolerate wart procedures very well.

SHOE GEAR ANALYSIS

The shoe gear children wear is very important. Children’s shoes are notoriously unsupportive, which is unfortunate because children are very active. At Arya Foot & Ankle we always size our pediatric patients and make sure they are in the right shoes for their activity. We ask patients to bring in their current shoes for their activity-dance shoes, cleats, athletic shoes, sandals-and can make recommendations for improving the shoe gear to increase efficiency and decrease injuries.

REHABILITATION AND EXERCISES FOR INJURY PREVENTION FOR SPORTS

Stretching and strengthening for children’s recreational and daily activity is almost always overlooked. Foundational strength of the interossei muscles of the foot and ankle stabilization exercises are very important to decrease chance of injury and keep young patients in their sports moving efficiently. At Arya Foot & Ankle, we design treatment protocols with certain stretches to improve balance, strength, and flexibility for our young patients. Building good habits from a young age helps young athletes be prepared for later athletics, like high school and college.

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Arya Foot & Ankle
3104 E Indian School Road, Suite 110
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 623-253-9104
Fax: 833-687-1377

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623-253-9104