Walking on Toes

I would listen to the Doctor...as one of the other Moms has said...this could lead to a permanent shortening of his calf muscles so that he CANT put his heel down. I think physical therapy may be the key...to help him stretch those muscles out. They may also have a "game" you can play to help him remember.

My son does the same thing, mostly just on the kitchen floor, he only does it when he is barefoot. I catch hubby doing it from time to time, all the guys in my husbands family on his moms side does it. How often he do it, is he walking on his toes only and not walking regular, or just from time to time? If so then I guess the best thing to do is to keep shoes on him while at home. I dont think its a major issue.

Your son may have something called idiopathic toe walking. For the most part it is harmless, but walking on his toes all the time may cause your sons calf muscles to tighten up on him so that at some point he can't put his heels back down. Your son may benefit from seeing a physical therapist for a visit or two to show him some stretches for his calves.

Good Morning F., Is it serious? Nada clue. But our eldest son did the same thing and still does at time. He is 34 yrs old. ;) He walked on the balls of his feet with out shoes as a baby. With shoes with good arch support he did fine.
I see him when he is in a hurry his heel barely touch the ground. Of course that that maybe how he keeps his shoes on also. He seldom ties his boots around his ankles. Feet in Off he goes. lol

If it bothers you you can surely see your Dr.
I might say his youngest son was a yr in Oct. He hasn't taken off walking all the time as yet. But he walks on his toes too. Can't keep shoes of any type on this child. Gets them off even when I tie them around his Ankles. I keep tights on him cause he pulls socks off too.

God Bless
K. Nana of 5

This is going to sound odd but a prof where I went to college once told me about a similar problem with her son and the culprit was plantar warts. If they are painful the child tries to keep their weight off them. Just a thought.

Could it be that he doesn't like the feeling of the floor under his feet? I know I don't. I always have to wear socks or slippers. See if the sensation is what bothers him, and if so, have him wear slippers or house shoes/flip flops that are only for in the house. (That way you won't have to worry about what he's stepped in outside.)

I would speak to your doctor. My kids doctor was concerned about our youngest even though she did it when she was in a frolicking mood. It is a sign of autism. Since my 9 yr old has autism they look for anything in Genna. She is 7 now and as fine as any child of mine can be.

I think it is funny looking at the other posts how many kids walk on their toes and it has nothing to do with autism. Crazy doctors!

My son would walk on his toes, toes curled under so that he was actually walking on the tops or ends of his toes (more like a ballet dancer than typical walking on toes). He did it quite a bit, but not all the time and outgrew it by the time he was three or so. I would think if your son is still doing it that it could become a problem for him as some of the others have said. I would take him in and talk to the Dr. about it. I had a friend in high school who walked on her toes (on balls of feet with heels lifted) and she's almost 40 now and still walks that way.

This is serious. It causes the muscles, tendons and ligaments in the back of the leg to shorten. As we walk, we stretch those muscles. If you don't use them, then they constrict and lengthening them again can be painful especially as a teen or adult. You need to make this stop or your son will have major problems as a man.

Good luck,
D.

I took my now 12 year old daughter to an orthopedic sports medicine doctor when she was almost two for the very same reason. He said there wasn't anything I could do to change it. It isn't as bad in shoes. My husband also to this day walks on the balls of his feet when barefoot. My daughter and husband are both athletic and it has never been a problem running or anything else. In fact they both have very good calf muscles. I wouldn't worry too much! Good Luck! Jennifer

I walked on my toes until I was 10, then my dad forced me to do exercises to lengthen my calves and "practice" walking heel-toe. It helped, because I walk right now, though when barefoot I find myself walking tiptoe. My 4 yr old son is the same way as me, and I didn't want him to go through what I did as an older child, so we make a game out of heal-toe steps. It has helped him to walk correctly. I will see him walking tiptoe (or standing on his tippiest of toes, I just say, "heel-toe, use your foot, not your toes", and he will be more conscious of how he is walking. I really don't know what exactly happens to someone who walks on their toes, but my mom has told me that I had to do the exercizes to lengthen my calves because my achilles tendon was shortened due to the tiptoe behavior. She always asks me, "don't you remember how much it hurt when you tried to walk heel-toe?" Honestly, no, I don't. But I believe this is what can happen. And if your son is nearly 8, he probably is to that point already. You may want to see if it does hurt him to walk correctly. Try some walking practice everyday, until he can do it without even thinking about it. Good luck!

I definitely agree with the advice about seeing the doctor and getting started to correct this now. A neighbor's son had surgery in middle school and tendons were cut in his ankles to allow the calf muscles to stretch out. If it can be corrected with braces or casts and pt now - wouldn't that be better?

It can be because it can cause his heel cords to shorten the same way wearing high heels for years would do. I would talk to your doctor and in the mean time start stretching him. Have him sit straght leggedand pull his toes towards him

My son (6 years old now) was toe walking really bad. Our doctor referred us to Children's Mercy, who was wonderful to work with. My son had to have casts on both legs for 3 weeks, then we did physical therapy exercises at home with him. I suggest having your son evaluated by a pediatric orthopedic doctor, but most of the time the toe walking can be corrected fairly easily (the casts were only on long enough for it to be new and exciting for my son). We made sure we did his exercises every day because we didn't want to take a chance on him having the surgery to cut the tendons in his ankle. All of the therapy and everything was easy and pain free, just took a little discipline on parents' part to do it every day and after just a few months my son was fine. He had a checkup after 6 months, then after a year and both times was told he still looks good. We keep an eye on him but still have him do his exercises periodically. Staying active with good shoes on played an important part.

Take him to a reputable podiatrist. He may need a little help with this. I know I did, and I have never been sorry I got the help. (For myself and my youngest daughter)

Youe def need to get him him. It has something to do with the muscle in the back of his calf or bottom prat of his leg. He might need to wear braces to stretch out the muscles back there. I am not sure what the name for it is but I know the longer you wait the worse it will get. I hope you find some answers soon! E.

My husbands side of the family are toe walkers. This can cause a problem to your child later in life. Get the help you need now. A major affect can be the achilles tendon. Go to a specialist and try excerises or have your childs legs casted for three weeks. This will help correct the toe walking and reteach your child how to walk with his feet flat. My daughter, who is 5 walks on her toes and we have seen a specialist, but have not preceeded any further. Good luck.

I saw a teen girl do this. She had to have her tendons released on a regular basis. I know that my sister who had CP also would have had this, and had to do the releases for proper physical therapy. She could have walked, but her real mother never followed through with her PT. I would definitely have this looked at. It doesn't sound pleasant at all, but it can become very bad and deform the body and cause pain, I would expect. Since the releases were done, I don't know what would have happened had they not been. Maybe there is a PT that could be done to stretch the tendons without surgery.