

In a person of any age, the doctor will ask about occupational and recreational activities, previous foot trauma or foot surgery and the type of shoes worn. If your child has flatfeet, his or her doctor will ask about any family history of flatfeet or inherited foot problems. There also may be an open wound with bruising and bleeding. Lateral subtalar dislocation - Because this often is caused by a traumatic, high-impact injury, the foot may be significantly swollen and deformed.In some cases, the condition is discovered when a child is evaluated for unusually frequent ankle sprains. Symptoms usually start during a child's teenage years and are aggravated by playing sports or walking on uneven ground. The pain tends to spread upward to the outer ankle and to the outside portion of the lower leg.

When symptoms occur, there is usually foot pain that begins at the outside rear of the foot. Tarsal coalition - Many people have no symptoms, and the condition is discovered only by chance when an X-ray of the foot is obtained for some other problem.If a child with congenital vertical talus has a genetic disorder, additional symptoms often are seen in other parts of the body. The rare person who is diagnosed at an older age often has a "peg-leg" gait, poor balance and heavy calluses on the soles where the arch would normally be. This is sometimes combined with an actual fold in the middle of the foot. Congenital vertical talus - The foot of a newborn with congenital vertical talus typically has a convex rocker-bottom shape.Symptoms of rigid flatfoot vary depending on the cause of the foot problem: A person who develops symptoms usually complains of tired, aching feet, especially after prolonged standing or walking. However, their toes may tend to point outward as they walk, a condition called out-toeing. The majority of children and adults with flexible flatfeet never have symptoms. It usually occurs suddenly because of a high-impact injury related to a fall from a height, a motor vehicle accident or participation in sports, and it may be associated with fractures or other injuries. The dislocated talus bone slips out of place, drops downward and sideways and collapses the arch. In a lateral subtalar dislocation, there is a dislocation of the talus bone, located within the arch of the foot. Lateral subtalar dislocation - Sometimes called an acquired flatfoot, it occurs in someone who originally had a normal foot arch.A rare condition, it often affects several generations of the same family. Tarsal coalition (peroneal spastic flatfoot) - In this inherited condition, two or more of the foot bones are fused together, interfering with the flexibility of the foot and eliminating the normal arch.The cause is unknown in up to half of cases. It often is associated with a genetic disorder, such as Down syndrome, or other congenital disorders. Congenital vertical talus is a rare condition present at birth. In some cases, there is a reverse curve (rocker-bottom foot, in which the shape is like the bottom rails of a rocking chair) in place of the normal arch. Congenital vertical talus - In this condition, there is no arch because the foot bones are not aligned properly.Some common causes of rigid flatfeet include: Unlike a flexible flatfoot, a rigid flatfoot is often the result of a significant problem affecting the structure or alignment of the bones that make up the foot's arch. Causes include joint disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and disorders of nerve function (neuropathy). Flatfeet also can develop during adulthood. These people usually have extremely flexible, very mobile joints throughout the body, not only in the feet. In many adults who have had flexible flatfeet since childhood, the missing arch is an inherited condition related to a general looseness of ligaments. Most of these people never develop symptoms. Even in adulthood, 15% to 25% of people have flexible flatfeet. The arch may not form fully until sometime between ages 7 and 10. If the arch disappears in both foot positions - standing and elevated - the condition is called rigid pes planus or rigid flatfoot.įlexible flatfeet are considered normal in young children because babies are not born with a normal arch. If this arch is flattened only when standing and returns when the foot is lifted off the ground, the condition is called flexible pes planus or flexible flatfoot. The foot loses the gently curving arch on the inner side of the sole, just in front of the heel. Last updated on Jan 23, 2023.Ī fallen arch or flatfoot is known medically as pes planus.
