Childs leg splints/shoes?

daisyboo

Hi I was wondering if someone can help me out. I currently care for a girl with spina bifida, she wears splints on her legs to aid walking but her mum is finding it hard to get any decent shoes to wear with these. I was just wondering if anyone knew much about this and could suggest something.
Thank you

lil_me

Can't offer any direct advice but there is http://www.asbah.org/ where you may find more info and a lot of kids with Cerebal Palsy where these and there is a forum on http://www.scope.org.uk/ aswell as others you may be able to get advice from.

D&DD

Is she under an orthotist at the hospital? Ours is very helpful for sourcing things might be worth asking them? I have to use Clarks to get my boys shoes fitted right as he has lifts in them and his feet are twisted right over still...but I do remember the orthotist saying they can actually make special shoes if needed

ka7e

The biggest problem with having shoes made by your local NHS orthotic department is the time it takes! By the time a special pair of shoes is ready, the child may have outgrown them.

funky-footprints

My friend has similar problems with her son who has downs ...... the nhs only provide one pair of shoes, and everything else she buys provides no support. He is most happy in his wellies.

Quackers

My daughter has been wearing a leg splint for 14 years so here's my advice!

When you buy shoes check to see if the 'insole' of the shoe lifts out. The majority of them are only lightly stuck down with a blob of glue and many are completely removable anyway. This gives a lot more depth and width to the shoe to accomodate the splint.

Clarks are definately worth trying - if you explain the problem and maybe suggest the above if the staff are not used to fitting with splints then you should find some that fit.

Alternatively Hush Puppies childrens shoes all have removable insoles as they provide 3 pairs to get the correct width for the child - so they could be worth looking for to try.

It will make no difference to the comfort of the shoes as the foot is resting on a plastic splint anyway.

Is it an older child - if she has adult size feet then there are many brands which are deinately wider than others. Trainers are a really good option as they are usually deep and can accomodate a splint really well. I always find it really easy to get my daughters foot & splint into a pair of trainers but struggle more with shoes.

Going up to a bigger size is usually a necessity to accomodate for the size of the splint. Please dont be concerned by this. The little girl will soon adjust to wearing shoes too big - my daughters shoes have always had to be a bit on the large size but as the splint prevents the foot from moving around it will do no harm at all to the foot.

Good luck! Oh, and feel free to send me a pm if you have any more questions.

daisyboo

Thank you so much for your suggestions I will pass them on to the girls mum hope it helps her.