Are You Worried About Your Kids’ Feet? – What to Do When Children Complain About Foot Pain!

Has your child been complaining about foot or leg pain? Have you noticed your child walking or running differently lately? Are you worried about your kids’ feet? One thing is clear: Foot pain in children is never normal and if left untreated it can lead to more serious complications down the road.

Children who complain about foot or leg pain are trying to tell you something. I mention this because I have seen how many medical professionals advise parents not to worry about their kids’ foot pain as it will eventually go away on its own. The fact is that sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t.

My question is why would you wait for your child’s foot condition to magically disappear when there are simple steps that you can take to significantly reduce or fully eliminate your child’s pain?

I help parents from all over the world find the correct pair of shoes for their children online. Every single day I get contacted by families who are worried about their children’s foot pain. These are families who already took their children to their pediatrician or podiatrist and spent hundreds of dollars to be told to wait as the condition will resolve on its own.

Why would parents wait for their child’s foot condition to resolve on its own when there are steps they can take right now (today!) that will help treat their children’s foot/pain and improve their walking gait and overall posture at the same time.

Whether you follow my advice and follow the steps I recommend or if you decide to get a different doctor’s opinion you need to be proactive and don’t take the “wait and see approach” when it comes to treating your child’s foot pain.

I have helped hundreds of children who were experiencing foot and leg pain find the correct pair of shoes — in some cases, they need orthotics as well — and their pain was significantly reduced and in some cases fully eliminated.

Why Do My Child’s Feet Hurt? – The 2 Most Common Reasons

Reason #1

I have noticed how most children who come to the store complaining about foot pain are wearing the wrong type of shoes, the wrong shoe size, or a combination of both.

If you are 100% sure that your child is wearing the correct pair of shoes in the correct shoe size then you can move on to reason #2. If you are unsure of your child’s foot shape and shoe size you can visit a different article I created. That article will show you how to determine whether your child has narrow, medium, wide, or extra wide feet. You will also be able to figure out whether your child has a high instep or not.

Reason #2

Another common reason why children complain about foot or leg pain is when they have a foot condition such as flat feet, rolled ankles, low muscle tone or any other condition that can alter the alignment of their feet and legs. When children are growing, the normal development of the pelvis and the spine will suffer if there is a foot imbalance.

By now you should know your child’s exact foot size and shape, and whether your child has a foot condition that might be causing the pain.

If you don’t know this by now and feel lost and want to contact me directly you can email me any questions you have and I will respond to your email as soon as possible.  

I promise I will get to it as I know how stressful it is when children complain about pain, just remember I am helping other families as well.

How to Stop Your Child’s Foot Pain – The Most Effective Approach!

Scenario #1

Your child is wearing shoes in the correct size but you are not sure whether the shoes are supporting your child’s feet correctly.

➡️ Check if your kids’ shoes provide good arch support. Grab your kids’ shoes and check whether the outsole is thick and supportive or thin and flimsy:

➡️ Check if your kids’ shoes provide good ankle support. Press on the heel counter of the shoes and make sure it feels firm:

➡️ Check if your kids’ shoes are flexible. We want your kids’ shoes to be flexible and they should always bend at the ball of the foot but not further.

Most Popular Resource of Supportive Shoes for Kids

Here you can see a selection of supportive shoes that help treat foot conditions such as flat feet, rolled ankles, low muscle tone and that are available in different widths — narrow, medium, wide, extra wide.

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Scenario #2

Your child is already wearing supportive shoes in the correct size but keeps complaining about foot and leg pain. In this case, I suggest trying a pair of orthotics inside the shoes to provide your child with extra support.

It’s important for the orthotics to be supportive but they shouldn’t be too invasive as we still want your child’s foot and leg muscles to develop on their own.

Most Popular Resource of Supportive Orthotics for Kids

Here you can access a selection of orthotics that help treat foot conditions such as flat feet, rolled ankles, and low muscle tone.

Make sure that your child is wearing shoes with shoelaces instead of velcro closure as shoelaces provide better support and stability than velcro closure.

If you followed all my recommended steps and your child still complains about pain email me at: [email protected] and I will help you evaluate your child’s feet and find the correct pair of orthotics.

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This is Why Parents Should Not Ignore Their Child’s Foot Pain

Children who complain about foot pain are trying to tell us something. To summarize, the most common reasons why children complain about foot pain are:

• Wearing the wrong shoe size.

• Wearing unsupportive shoes.

• Underlying conditions such as flat feet, rolled ankles, or low muscle tone, among many others.

Wearing the wrong shoe size, unsupportive shoes, or having to deal with an underlying foot condition has a direct impact on your child’s walking gait. Once the feet are pronated, the knees and hips also become misaligned. This means the muscles that move those joints no longer work efficiently, and it will take more energy for your child to do the same work as other children who don’t have this condition.

Leaving your child’s foot condition untreated or allowing your child to walk around wearing the wrong type of shoes can lead to the following problems down the road:

• Bunions.

• Knee, leg, and lower back pain.

• Hip pain.

Is Foot Pain Directly Associated with Growing Pains?

Most pediatricians tell parents that foot pain is often considered to be growing pains. In my experience, this is true in a small number of cases, but in most cases, foot pain is caused by underlying foot conditions or from wearing ill-fitting and unsupportive shoes.

When it comes to treating foot-related problems, early intervention by an expert is the key to proper treatment.

Have you found a specific pair of shoes or orthotics that have helped treat and prevent your child’s foot pain? Let us know in the comment section below so other families can benefit from your experiences.