Allie's Special Boots

Allie has special boots!  Allie has always walked on her tippy toes.  I actually do not even remember a time when she didn't walk on her toes.  And I'm not talking about just the balls of the foot, but her actual toes!  After a run around from her pediatrician, an orthopedic surgeon who told us he only really handles sports injury cases and a podiatrist, we finally got some answers from her pediatric orthopedic surgeon when he repaired her broken arm.  He recommended a physical therapy evaluation.  With all the craziness that we experienced this past year, I didn't get around to see the physical therapists until this Spring. 

So it was worse than I thought.  The years of extreme toe walking not only affected Allie's feet but her back, hips, quads, and hamstrings too!  The goal of physical therapy is to stretch the ligaments and muscles and then strengthen the muscles.  She began with having a 20 degree difference in range of motion than what is "normal".  Needless to say Allie has had a lot of work to do. 

And that's where the special boots come in!  She wears the boots at night to slightly stretch her tendons over a long period of time. (9-10 hours instead of an hour or so of therapy time.)  In addition, Allie goes to physical therapy twice a week for more stretching and exercising.  She's literally learning how to walk, jump, and walk up and downs stairs all over again. 

I don't think anything is cooler than purple boots with butterflies!  She is making great progress and we are so proud of all her hard work!