Do you remember how as soon as your child was born everyone started looking intently for bits of Mum and Dad? “Oh look, he’s got Dad’s nose, or she’s got Mum’s eyes” etc. Let’s face it the genes are 50/50 Mum and Dad, so your beautiful little mixture is staring you right in the face. I was really impressed that my little girl had made some good choices. Dad’s eyelashes and Mum’s eyebrows and not the other way around was the ideal combination but what if all her choices were not so great.
It’s been interesting to see how often knee issues run in families. The problem is that pain and discomfort may not be obvious until damage has already occurred. By this stage cartilage wear and tear is often happening and muscle imbalances are entrenched and very hard to change. Wouldn’t it be ideal to identify this as early as possible and fix it before it became a major issue?
As babies learn to walk they naturally go through phases of first bow legged and then knock kneed before gradually normalizing by about age eight. When my daughter was learning to crawl she mainly wore jeans and leggings to protect her precious little knees. As she started walking and was wearing a dress one day I suddenly had a terrified thought – her little knees were now unprotected. Since then Band-Aids and bruises have been a reasonably regular occurrence because swirly skirts and dresses are as essential as breathing for most little girls.
Now while all the running around, falling over and growth spurts are going on, knee problems can also be starting. Next time your child crouches down to pick up something or tie their shoe lace, take a minute to watch how they do it. Particularly if they do a squat type move, watch and see if their knee stays midline over their foot as they go down. If not, does it tend to veer off to one side? This could be the very beginning of the sort of knee problems that may haunt older members of your family and maybe even you.
Chiropractors with a special interest in children are ideally trained to recognise and treat children’s knee issues with a variety of very gentle treatments and simple exercises. A specifically modified style of lunge may be sufficient to turn on and re-balance muscle use. I’m a chiropractor and a mum and I’m here to help little and big kids make the best of their structural inheritance.
Author: Karen Hall – Chiropractor at The Medical Sanctuary – Read more about Karen here.