Internal Tibial Torsion

Claira has been formaly diagnosed with Internal Tibial Torsion. Most know this as pigeon-toed. This is when the large bone in the lower leg is rotated inward. When she was born her right foot was smashed and really twisted inward. They told us it would plump up and fix itself. Well it did plump up but it didn't turn out to be "normal". Since she has been walking for almost 8 months now and has learned to run and ride her bike. She hates shoes and almost always has bloody toes and knees from falling due to her feet. There is really nothing they do now for Internal Tibial Torsion. When Andy was little they used Denis-Browne splints, an 8- to 12- inch bar, worn at night, with the feet facing out at about 45 degrees. This device seemed to work quite well but was never actually tested. When it was tested in 1991 it did prove to work but no better then doing nothing. So the new recomendation is to do nothing just watch her trip and fall and wait till she learns how to deal with her silly feet or grow out of it. If the feet still turn inward by more than 15 degrees at age five, spontaneous correction is unlikely. For these children, surgical de-rotation is an effective treatment. The best window for this is between 7 or 8 and 10 years of age. Claira's case is very minimal compared to pictures I've seen and there is an upside, studies show for those whose internal tibial torsion doesn't completely correct, but doesn't qualify for surgery tend to be athletes. The fastest runners tend to fall in this category. Top sprinters, in particular, are significantly more likely to be in-toed than the general population.