Pediatric Foot & Ankle

Many times children's heel pain is dismissed and assumed it is part of growing pains. This is often not the case, and it should always be evaluated by a pediatric podiatrist in order to make sure that there are no red flags for something more serious going on.
Children's heel pain can be the result of Achilles Tendinitis, a heel fracture, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, or in most cases, a condition called Sever's disease.
Sever’s disease accounts for over 90% of the children’s heel pain cases we see and is the #1 cause of heel pain in kids.
In this episode Dr. Mikkel Jarman discusses children's heel pain and possible causes and treatments.

It's important to realize that children's and adult feet are not the same and should NOT be treated the same.
There are many foot conditions that children have that adults do not. One example is Sever's disease. Sever's is only found in children but is commonly misdiagnosed as Plantar Fasciitis by podiatrists that only see adults. Podiatrists that rarely or never see children generally do not have the same knowlege of how to identify and treat children's feet conditions. These children will be diagnosed treated as if they were adults and the outcomes can be less than ideal or even damaging. In this episode Dr. Mikkel Jarman discusses the importance of choosing a pediatric podiatrist and how to choose the correct one.
Dr. Mikkel Jarman's practice Pediatric Foot & Ankle only treats kids and specializes in children's foot conditions from the ages of infant through teenage years.

Toe walking is a walking pattern in which the child walks on their toes or the balls of their feet and there’s no contact of the heel to the ground. For children 3 years and younger, toe walking is very common. However, for children ages 3 and up toe walking may be associated with a medical condition. Fortunately, over 90% of these cases can be treated with conservative treatment options.
In this audio track, Dr. Jarman with Pediatric Foot & Ankle in Arizona, discusses toe walking in children and when there is reason for concern and when there is not.
Read more: Toe Walking in Children - Causes, Concerns, & Treatment
Watch full video: Toe Walking - What Every Parent Should Know

Pediatric flat feet is a condition in which the entire bottom of the child's foot touches the ground. It occurs when the arch either fails to develop or collapses. This condition is fairly common since children's feet bones and joints are still extremely flexible. In most cases, the condition doesn't require treatment. However, in some cases, treatment is required and there are both conservative and surgical options depending on the child's specific condition and severity.
Hyprocure is minimally invasive procedure that treats flat feet in children by inserting a small titanium stint between the heel and ankle.
Custom orthotics may be used to treat pediatric flat feet as well.

In this episode, Dr. Mikkel Jarman discusses how to determine whether a child's heel pain is the result of Sever's disease. Sever's is a condition caused by a growth spurt in which the heel bone grows at a faster rate than the muscles and tendons surrounding it. While it is painful, it is usually temporary and mainly affects children ages seven to fourteen years old. Heel pain will worsen with physical ground and pound activities such as dance and gymnastics, soccer, football, baseball. Sever's disease treatments can include: elevating the leg and applying ice, specific leg and foot stretches, and sometimes custom orthotic shoe inserts.