One of the parents' great concerns at the moment when their children begin to walk are their feet. Some because they put their foot a little inside, others because they throw it a little outside, others because it seems to walk on tiptoe and most, because They see that their son has flat feet.
The reality is that they are not misled, Children have flat feet up to 3-4 years (or rather, visually they have flat feet), and from that moment the majority cease to have them.
Of insoles and special shoes
There have been many years that children, when starting to walk, have worn reinforced boots with the sole reaching up to the heel, with fasteners everywhere and even with insoles, because in the past they looked at their feet as if they were plasticine and not was able to form properly without a mold that would serve as a guide.
The reality is that there is little left of today, because it is not necessary to be so aware of the feet, unless there is an obvious problem in walking, in the flexibility of the foot, in strength, in the position ... alterations that occur only in a minority of children.
How are flat feet
A normal foot is one that rests on the floor by the tip (the fingers and the front part of the fingers), by the heel and by the external side. The inner part has an arch (the plantar arch), which does not touch the ground.
Babies, on the other hand, support the entire sole of the foot on the ground, without appreciating arch in the internal part, and this is so until 3-4 years but not because the foot is flat morphologically, but because that area is full of fat and because the ligaments are still very elastic.
As children walk, as they use their feet on the floor of the house, on the beach, they go up to places and, in short, they exercise them, the foot muscles get stronger, the fat deposit disappears and the plantar arch is formed.
We say this happens until 3-4 years, but It is also normal to see children up to 6 years old with a flat foot because the plantar arch is still forming.
To know if the foot is really flat or if it is a foot in formation, just put the child on tiptoe. If at that time the arch appears, no problem, it is a perfectly normal foot. If at that time the arch does not appear, we are facing a rigid flat foot, one that has no bow and, therefore, is considered out of normal.
So, since children's flat feet are not exactly flat feet, because it is not considered anything pathological, it is often said that they have a "flat or loose flat foot", an adjective that comes to say that when it is no longer so lax or flexible it will leave of being flat.
What if my son really has flat feet?
As it is possible that a child, when standing on tiptoe, does not show the plantar arch and has then, a few flat feet, it only remains to comment what needs to be done in that case.
Flat feet can bother and may not do it. There are athletes and runners that the walking population would never reach if they ran to our side that have completely flat feet, but there are also children with flat feet that often fall, explaining that their feet hurt when they walk a lot , which tend to support the foot badly, etc.
In these situations, this is when we should seek professional help, because here the templates could be useful and because Visiting the beach and walking barefoot on uneven terrain It will be more advisable than ever.
