Many new mothers might have heard about the cause of the baby’s leg to bend, whether it is the posture of carrying the baby or wearing disposable diapers, which may cause mothers to worry that it will be a problem for the baby when growing up, such as bad posture, imperfect legs that are not pretty to look at, or that this may affect the child’s self-confidence as well.
But in truth, every new born baby has bow legs because of the posture the infant was in before they were born where there is limited fetal space. As the size of the body increases during later stages of pregnancy, the baby has to take on the best position, which usually involves crossing the legs, etc. During birth, these postures are still visible in the early stages, especially in the legs whereby the knee will be pushed outward out (leg spread), which resembles bowleg. This is normal physiologically. As the child grows up, the legs will gradually stretch out.
Many may have heard of the causes of bowleg include carrying a baby in a posture where the baby hangs to the side of the adult, being in strollers from a very young age, or wearing disposablediapers regularly. These claims are completely unfounded. Bowleg is only caused by 2 things:
- Genetics
- Bone disorders caused by diseases that have occurred since birth.
To observe whether your baby suffers from bowleg, try stretching the knee and positioning the knee bone in front of the body. Pull the ankles together, creating a gap at the ankle no larger than 2 fingers. This test should be done before the child reaches the age of 3. If when the ankles are pressed together, the child’s knees become stacked, a physician should be consulted.
To observe toddlers or children who can already walk, notice the child’s walking posture to see if he/she seems comfortable and places equal weight on both legs or whether there is limping. If you notice any abnormalities as mentioned above, take your child to the doctor for a thorough examination. Some children may have bow feet, but can still walk comfortably. If the child is still under the age of 2 and have no other symptoms, it might just be the nature of the child and parents should not worry too much. Just keep an eye on the symptoms.
We recommend that you should not leave these symptoms unchecked because when the child grows up, the legs will become more bent and may result in knee pain and bad knee.
It is important that parents do not treat these symptoms by themselves. It is widely believed that if your child has bowleg, it is easy to remedy by just bending the child’s legs into place. In reality, the feet and the legs of babies may not be set in place yet, and bending them in the wrong way could cause pain and permanent disfigurement. If your child has very severe bowleg and you are worried, see a physician to determine whether there are any abnormalities in the bone in order to receive proper care.
In conclusion, the understanding that carrying a child on the side of the adult’s hip or wearing diapers will cause bowleg is a false belief. Scientifically speaking, a child must suffer from bowleg since birth and natural symptoms will disappear or lessen as the child grows up. However, severe bowleg needs to be correctly treated from an early age since it will yield better results.
Source : www.med.mahidol.ac.th
Crated At 30/11/2016
