Flexible Flat Foot and Probiotics

Today we were off to see the orthopedic surgeon with regards to James' feet. Since James learned to walk he has walked on the inside of his feet. At first he walked with his toes pointed outwards, but with time they slowly turned inwards, yet he continues to walks on the inside of his feet. You can see this trend start at his knees, where he's knock-kneed causing his lower leg to be on an outward angle. You can get a few diagrams of what I'm trying to say at the following link. Our pediatrician had advised that this would likely get better on it's own, but wanted it checked just to make sure.

We were advised that James has what is called flexible flat feet. This is actually not an uncommon problem and many children have some decree of flat feet. This means that the arches of James' feet have not (yet) developed properly. The word flexible means that James' feet are flat when standing , but when not standing there is an arch to his feet (versus rigid flat feet, which would be flat all the time and painful, requiring surgery). They have advised that it is likely that this will correct itself within the next two years; they will continue to monitor him to make sure that it is and that he isn't developing any complications. If it doesn't begin to correct on it's own or it becomes painful then he may be required to wear some sort of arch support or orthotic shoes.

In the meantime we have to buy shoes with mid-support, flexibility in the toe area but firmness in the arch area ... she said they don't need to be anything fancy or expensive, they just have to have that extra support in the middle. Guess we won't be finding second hand shoes as easily for this boy. As well, barefeet is good, it helps strength the arch and muscles. So he can go without shoes at home ... just when he wears shoes we have to make sure they have proper support.

While at the hospital today I also spoke to James' dietician. She advised that there isn't really any rhyme or reason to why they changed his formula as they did ... just like there never seems to be a rhyme or reason (that we can figure out) to James. They just figured that the problems started when adding the Duocal formula, so they would take that formula out and rework the formula with something different. It all balances out mineral, calorie, vitamin wise ... just trying it a different way. We'll give this a try for a month or so and hope things settled down. At this point we are guessing that the formula is the problem, but can't say for sure. So if we're still having trouble after trying this, then we're going to go back to the original formula and see if things balance out ... that will help us better determine if it's truly the formula or something else going on in his little body.

At the same time, I also discussed putting James on a probiotic to help control his yeast infections, especially now that he's on an antibiotic again. I haven't done all my research on probiotics yet, so I can't say too much about them. I know that they help build up and maintain the organisms in the body and are especially useful when on antibiotic which kill all organisms, including the good ones. The little time I did have to research on probiotics I did read a couple times that the studies being done suggest that probiotics may be helpful for those who have colitits. Our dietician felt it wouldn't harm to give it a try; she was going to check and confirm with our GI and Genetic Doctors and then call me with what they suggested would work best.