The 8-year-old girl, residing in Ho Chi Minh City, was taken to the doctor after the family noticed that the child was not walking steadily, had a forced gait and often tilted when moving. Initially, the family thought this was just a physical characteristic of the child, so they did not take her for examination. Only when the symptoms were prolonged and affected walking did the family take the child to the hospital.
Through examination, children were diagnosed with Flexible Flattened Feet syndrome and were prescribed to use orthopedic soles for about three years in combination with a therapeutic exercise program. The exercises are designed to strengthen muscles, improve the flexibility of the feet and ankles, adjust walking posture and limit disease progression.
According to BS.CKII Tran Quang Khang - Head of the Department of Rehabilitation, An Sinh General Hospital, flat feet and scoliosis are quite common conditions in children, but if detected early, most cases only require monitoring or simple intervention, helping to limit the impact on long-term development.
Recently, the number of children coming for examination due to flat feet, scoliosis and motor system abnormalities at the hospital has increased. The reason is partly due to parents paying more attention to children's motor health and the hospital is currently implementing a free screening program for children.
On average, each month, the department receives about 20 cases. However, the number of children who really need treatment only accounts for a small proportion.
Although many parents are very worried when they see their children have flat feet, in reality not every child gets sick. The important thing is to comprehensively assess motor function, gait, posture and accompanying symptoms before deciding whether intervention is needed or not. Comprehensive assessment helps doctors find the root cause of the problem instead of just treating symptoms, thereby building a suitable regimen for each child," Dr. Khang shared.
In addition to flat feet and scoliosis, during the examination, doctors also discovered many other abnormalities such as arched legs (O-legged leg), knee-legged legs (X-legged leg) or gait disorders related to neuromuscular diseases.
According to data compiled from Children's Hospital 2 and Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic Trauma Hospital, 95-97% of children with flat feet have physiological flat feet and do not need treatment.
Only about 1-2% of cases require conservative treatment with orthopedic support combined with physical therapy when symptoms of pain or motor dysfunction appear. The rate of surgery is very low, only about 0.1% to less than 1%, mainly in cases of flat or stiff feet or congenital bone defects.
