This article is dedicated to numerouse questions regarding pretty common problem of toddlers such as toe walking. The content presented here is a combination of Internet and Magazines resources collected over a period of time with references back to original sources. Feel free to contact us if you find that one of the resources belongs to you and you do not want it to be presented here.

Keeping kids off their toes

Up to 10 per cent of children are so-called toe walkers. Why they walk on their toes is unclear, but it is known that the habit can cause hip and back problems later in life. Researchers in Monash University's Centre for Biomedical Engineering have worked with staff in the physiotherapy department of Monash Medical Centre to devise exercises that lengthen the calf muscles of toe-walking children.
The exercises are calf-raises, where the children stand on an incline plane, go up onto their toes and then lower themselves using their calf muscles to control the downward movement. Although simple, the exercises have stemmed from complex investigations of muscle mechanics. "The calf muscles of toe-walking children tend to progressively shorten as they grow, until they are unable to put their heels on the ground," Dr Percival says. "For them to walk with a heel strike, rather than on their toes, their calf muscles need to be lengthened." "..we are concerned that if the gait style is left untreated, muscles will become shortened and affect the body's biomechanics. There is reduced knee-swing in the walk of toe-walkers, leading to lower back pain, outset hips and feet that point out rather than forward."
Until now, there have been three major methods of treating idiopathic toe-walkers:

    * operate and lengthen the Achilles tendon to allow the children to bring the heel down;
    * take the muscle into the stretched position and then set the lower leg in a plaster cast for two to four weeks;
    * use Botulinum toxin A injections, a neurotoxin that temporarily deprives the muscle of its nerve supply so the children are unable to rise up on their toes.