Children with Flat Feet or Toe Walkers? Parents do these Daily Stretches
Dr Emily Splichal
As a functional podiatrist a large part of my practice is taking care of children and focusing on foot development in our earliest years
As a parent there are daily massages and stretches that can be done to the foot and ankle to support overall foot strength and foot mobility
1. Plantar fascia / calf stretch
2. Forefoot & midfoot mobility
3. Plantar foot massage
if you are curious about your child’s foot and want a functional foot assessment please visit www.thefunctionalfootdoc.com
#flatfeet #kidsfeets #pediatricflatfoot #podiatry #footstretches
Full Transcript
Introduction to Children's Foot Types 0:00
As a functional podiatrist, I get asked all the time about children and foot types in children. Do they grow out of them and what can you do now as a parent for a toddler or child to help them optimize their overall foot function?
Plantar Fascia and Calf Stretch 0:14
What I'm going to show you in today's video is how to stretch the child's foot, whether it's a high arch or a flat foot. There are daily massages and stretches that you can do to support foot strength, foot mobility and ankle mobility. You're going to grab the foot, hold the heel in your hand, and with your opposite hand you're gonna take the toes and you going push them back. Now this is stretching from the plantar fascia which runs across the arch through the calf which is in the back of the heal.
Forefoot and Metatarsal Mobilization 0:41
I like to hold here for 30 to 60 seconds, before releasing. The second mobilization, you're going to take the foot relaxed on the table and you are going move all of the independent metatarsals, which runs under the different toes. This will help bring mobility to the forefoot. Once you do that to each of metatasals two or three times, You can grab the heel and we're gonna move the four foot relative to to rear foot.
Rearfoot-to-Forefoot Mobility and Foot Massage 1:07
I like to end all of my foot stretches with a foot massage where you can just rub along the arch, all these small muscles in the bottom of the foot play a very important role in foot stability.
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