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Pigeon Toed and Athletics


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DD7's feet turn inward when she walks/runs. Our pediatrician said she should outgrow it, but it's still there.

 

She is getting hurt at soccer as she trips a lot. She's in the younger kids group, so it's not serious injury, but I'm going to have to pull her out of sports that involve running after next year if they don't straighten up. She is unusually clumsy.

 

Any suggestions? I tried to google but it just said that pigeon toed people make great athletes (which makes no sense).

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According to our pedi runners who are pigeon toed do well. The problem with most sports is the turning, but running has you going in one direction. :001_smile: It seems to be true for my dd.

 

That's the part I don't understand. When she runs (and sometimes just walks), she literally trips herself. Her feet turn in and trip the other one.

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I wonder if her clumsiness is related to her growth rather than just her feet. This is only my own story, but ds1 was very klutzy--constantly falling down--and his feet were straight. Another mom suggested it was a growth thing as her sons were the same until their teen years. And ds1 did stop being so klutzy when he became a teen and his growth spurts slowed down.

 

Ds2 is pigeon-toed and has never been klutzy. His feet still turn in but it doesn't seem to impact his soccer playing at all. He's always had great gross motor skills; moreso than ds1. Ds1 has had a lot more growth spurts; ds2 seems to grow at a more consistent rate, not in bursts.

 

So I wonder if your dd's clumsiness is just a result of growth spurts throwing off her coordination. Kind of like how they trip more when they get new shoes because it's suddenly a different length and they have to adjust their stride to accommodate that.

Edited by Cinder
clarity
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It would probably be good for you to take her to a pediatric orthopedist, or to a sports medicine specialist.

 

We have a well check up this summer and I was going to bring it up then and ask our pediatrician for advice. We haven't really discussed it since she was a little girl and he said that she would outgrow it without any problem.

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Guest submarines

Are you sure she's tripping because she's pigeon-toed, not general clumsiness / age? Is she tripping more than other children? (I tend to only watch my child in group sports, and forget to follow everyone else.)

 

From what I know, and personal experience, being pigeon-toed is not an issue for sports like tennis or running. I don't see how soccer is different, but maybe it is.

 

:grouphug:

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I would go see another doctor.

 

How do you outgrow being pigeon toed?

 

I was pigeon toed as a child and practiced walking correctly forever. I don't think its something I outgrew, I worked really hard. It was either that or wear some awful orthopedic shoes which was just not going to happen.

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Our 11yo ds (and my dd17!) is very pigeon-toed and it's very noticeable. However, in both of these kids we didn't notice it until they started seeming clumsy and were way past the stage for any sort of brace! The dr. thought ds would outgrow it, but nope!

 

Now, his current dr. has given us some stretches to do and orthopedic inserts for his shoes that really help. One thing the dr. noticed is VERY tight hamstrings on our ds and so we do lots of stretches for those. One example: Ds lies on his back and we hold his foot slightly flexed while raising the leg until it hurts...then push it just a *bit* more and hold for 10 seconds. We do 5-6 sets of these on each leg.

 

I'd ask the dr. about this sort of thing first. HTH!

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