Do you remember when you started walking? have you ever asked a family member how you first started to walk, crawl, run and so on? A large majority of physios, you’ll find, are proud to say that their children walked quite early, almost like we have higher expectations of our kids to meet milestones early and with ease. It is true that the earlier your child mobilises and begins to explore the world, the better from a neurodevelopmental and musculoskeletal point of view. But I’m going to say this again and again, your child is an individual, and we all get to things in our own time.

This blog post is not going to include an exhaustive coverage of my approach to rotational deformities or variations as this would take a long time, rather I want to inform parents that most of the time no treatment is required for these conditions as they are often part of a spectrum of normal musculoskeletal development. The importance of early identification of abnormalities in children is paramount to good long term prognosis, which is when your paediatric physiotherapist comes to the party. By engaging with a therapist to assess your child to make sure that things are ‘normal’ is worth it’s weight in gold.

We undergo significant changes in the skeletal system across our lifespans, especially during periods of rapid growth and change. What may be considered ‘normal’ at one age can be completely abnormal for another age. A good example is a child who has just begun to walk who has turned out feet, which at this stage is normal, but if they have turned in feet then this is a cause for concern as it is not considered ‘normal’ at this stage.

In-toeing and out-toeing are considered to be torsional conditions and amount to being one of the most common raises for concern in parents and general practitioners alike. Comments by family members, teachers, strangers even such as “why is your child walking like that?” or “your toddler runs funny” feeds into parents worry and concern.

It all comes down to alignment of the lower limb, a combination of the hips, knees, feet and spine, amounts to rotational profiles in children. This is what you get when you see a musculoskeletal based paediatric physiotherapist as we are trained to identify abnormalities, develop rotational profiles and liaise with appropriate specialities as needed.

So don’t spend time worrying needlessly, reach out to us via our social media platforms if you would like more information.

Sam