WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? Bow legs is a condition where your knees stay wide apart even when you stand with your feet together. Walking might look a little awkward, making the bow legs look worse. For most people bow legs don’t cause major problems or impact walking. In some cases, bow legs that aren’t treated may lead to arthritis because of the unusual stress the curved legs place on joints in the knees and hips. WHO GETS BOW LEGS? Bow legs are common in infants under the age of 18 months and are seen as a normal variation in appearance for toddlers. Children and adolescents might have bow legs because of bone growth abnormalities while adults could develop bow legs from injury or from certain jobs (e.g. jockey). BOW LEGS A MESSAGE FROM Strathalbyn Podiatry Marjo Baan Mt Barker South Medical Centre 58 Wellington Road 5251 Ph - 08 8391 2055

WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? WHO GETS BOW LEGS? A MESSAGE … · 2017. 4. 27. · WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? Bow legs is a condition where your knees stay wide apart even when you stand with your feet

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Page 1: WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? WHO GETS BOW LEGS? A MESSAGE … · 2017. 4. 27. · WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? Bow legs is a condition where your knees stay wide apart even when you stand with your feet

W H AT A R E B O W L E G S ?B o w l e g s i s a c o n d i t i o n w h e r e y o u r k n e e s s t a y w i d e a p a r t e v e n w h e n y o u s t a n d w i t h

y o u r f e e t t o g e t h e r. Wa l k i n g m i g h t l o o k a l i t t l e a w k w a r d , m a k i n g t h e b o w l e g s l o o k

w o r s e . Fo r m o s t p e o p l e b o w l e g s d o n ’ t c a u s e m a j o r p r o b l e m s o r i m p a c t w a l k i n g . I n

s o m e c a s e s , b o w l e g s t h a t a r e n ’ t t r e a t e d m a y l e a d t o a r t h r i t i s b e c a u s e o f t h e u n u s u a l

s t r e s s t h e c u r v e d l e g s p l a c e o n j o i n t s i n t h e k n e e s a n d h i p s .

W H O G E T S B O W L E G S ?B o w l e g s a r e c o m m o n i n i n f a n t s u n d e r t h e a g e o f 1 8 m o n t h s a n d a r e s e e n a s a n o r m a l

v a r i a t i o n i n a p p e a r a n c e f o r t o d d l e r s . C h i l d r e n a n d a d o l e s c e n t s m i g h t h a v e b o w l e g s

b e c a u s e o f b o n e g r o w t h a b n o r m a l i t i e s w h i l e a d u l t s c o u l d d e v e l o p b o w l e g s f r o m i n j u r y

o r f r o m c e r t a i n j o b s ( e . g . j o c ke y ) .

BOWLEGS

A M E S S AG E F R O M Strathalbyn Podiatry

Marjo Baan

Mt Barker South MedicalCentre58 Wellington Road5251

Ph - 08 8391 2055

Page 2: WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? WHO GETS BOW LEGS? A MESSAGE … · 2017. 4. 27. · WHAT ARE BOW LEGS? Bow legs is a condition where your knees stay wide apart even when you stand with your feet

W H AT CAU S E S B O W L E G S ?I n f a n t s u s u a l l y h a v e b o w l e g s b e c a u s e o f t h e i r f o l d e d p o s i t i o n i n t h e m o t h e r ’s

w o m b, b u t t h e c o n d i t i o n i s u s u a l l y g o n e b y a g e t w o. S o m e d i s e a s e s t h a t a f f e c t l e g

g r o w t h c a n a l s o c a u s e b o w l e g s . T h e s e i n c l u d e r i c ke t s ( b e c a u s e o f a l a c k o f v i t a m i n

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t h a t h a v e n o t h e a l e d p r o p e r l y, a n d B l o u n t ’s d i s e a s e ( a g r o w t h d i s o r d e r o f t h e

s h i n b o n e ) . I n m a n y o f t h e s e c a s e s , o n e l e g i s m o r e b o w e d t h a n t h e o t h e r.

H O W TO T R E AT B O W L E G SI n m o s t c a s e s o f c h i l d r e n u n d e r t w o y e a r s o l d w i t h s y m m e t r i c a l b o w i n g , t r e a t m e n t

i s n o t n e e d e d b e c a u s e t h e c o n d i t i o n i s n o r m a l , b u t a c h i l d w i t h b o w l e g s s h o u l d b e

c h e c ke d e v e r y s i x m o n t h s . Fo r c h i l d r e n o l d e r t h a n t h r e e y e a r s o r w i t h a s y m m e t r i c a l

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b r a c e s , s h o e s , o r c a s t s . A t t i m e s ( e s p e c i a l l y i f t h e b o w l e g s a r e d u e t o t r a u m a o r a

p a r t i c u l a r j o b ) , s u r g e r y m i g h t b e n e e d e d .

P R E V E N T I N G B O W L E G S A N D CA R I N G F O R YO U R F E E TT h e r e i s n o k n o w n w a y t o p r e v e n t b o w l e g s , o t h e r t h a n t o a v o i d r i c ke t s . M a ke s u r e

y o u r c h i l d h a s a p p r o p r i a t e a m o u n t s o f v i t a m i n D. S p e n d i n g a l i t t l e t i m e i n t h e s u n

i s o n e w a y t o i n c r e a s e y o u r c h i l d ’s v i t a m i n D l e v e l s .