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So you’ve lost – or are well on the way to losing your toenail. It’s likely your big toe, though any toenail can come loose, and it likely pops to the forefront of your mind anytime you put on or take off socks and shoes because you’re worried that whatever is left may catch on the fabric and be painfully ripped off. Sound familiar?
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You may be a parent wondering if buying your child that new pair of shoes is a good idea, or if they’ll just outgrow them at the speed of light like they did with the last pair. You may have gone up a shoe size recently and have found yourself wondering didn’t my feet stop growing years ago?
Whatever the reason you’re here, the podiatry team at My FootDr have answered this age-old question and given you all the ins, outs and exceptions below.
Quick anatomy lesson: every single growing bone has one or likely multiple growth plates. Growth plates are specific areas within a bone made of cartilage where the body adds new bone to. Simply put: they’re how our bones grow. In long bones like our shin bone, there’s a growth plate present at both the top and the bottom of the bone.
When we’ve reached maturity, as determined by our body and hormones, our growth plates turn from being softer and more vulnerable to injury to hard, solid bone. This makes them indistinguishable from the rest of the bone, and the body is no longer able to add new bone cells in there to grow the bone. Hence, we stop growing.
The process of our growth plates hardening is unnoticeable and not painful or symptomatic, so you won’t even know it has happened – and unfortunately in the case of your child, you won’t know until some time passes and their feet haven’t increased in size, that it has occurred.
While your child’s feet are still growing and have these growth plates, they are vulnerable to problems like growing pains and fractures of the growth plate – which may even slow down the growth rate of the bone. If you’re worried about foot or leg pain in kids, bring them to your local My FootDr centre for a check up.
As growth plates often close near the end of puberty, there is no magic number to work with. For some, this may be as early as 14 years, while for others, their feet may only stop growing around the age of 18 or beyond. Boys do tend to stop growing earlier than girls – but this is a generalisation. If your child is currently going through a growth spurt – their feet are almost certainly still growing.
When it comes to growing feet in adults, you’ll likely be right if you feel that your feet may have changed size, but this won’t actually be the feet ‘growing’. There are a number of conditions, causes and foot problems that affect the posture and alignment of the feet, which in turn affects their size. For example, if you were to go from having a nicely arched foot, to one that is significantly flatter, then your foot will be longer and wider, and you may not fit your normal shoes comfortably.
Unfortunately, when our feet flatten, the tissues, ligaments and muscles in our feet are more easily strained and overused, which can quickly lead to foot pain. This is why often use solutions like custom foot orthotics to keep feet and arches well supported, maximising comfort and reducing the risk of injury.
While changes to the feet in both adults and kids can be normal, remember that foot pain is never normal, and that if you’re worried about something you’ve noticed then trust your gut instinct and come in for a foot health check.
Our experienced podiatry team perform comprehensive assessments that look at everything from muscle and joint strength, flexibility and function, to a postural assessment, to a detailed video gait analysis and more. This gives us a complete picture of what’s happening with your feet – and what we can do to help.
Book your appointment online here or call us on 1800 FOOTDR
With the new school year just around the corner, it’s fantastic to see the kids decorating their school books, getting their bags and uniforms ready and getting excited about what classes they’ll be in. But what about their feet?
Having the right gear and care for their feet is an easy and simple way to help your child get the best start to the school year! Two healthy feet can keep your student feeling comfortable, out of pain, able to run and play with their friends, and not miss out on school activities and sports.
To help, My FootDr has put together our top 5 ways to start this school year on the right foot!
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Knowing whether you’ve just been more active over the last few days, it’s that new pair of shoes, it’s the weather – or if something more serious underpinning the foot pain you’re experiencing can be very hard.
Many Australians put up with foot pain daily, hoping that the pain will disappear on its own, and trialling simple lifestyle changes with no improvement.
While for some, the thought of coming home, taking off your shoes and socks and putting your feet up after a long day feels like bliss, many Australians opt to keep their feet hidden because of peeling skin on the bottoms of their feet.
As “I don’t know why my feet do that, they’re always peeling” is a sentence we hear often in our podiatry clinics, today we thought we’d share our four most common causes of peeling feet – and what you can do to remedy the problem.
Your child’s school shoes will help them put their best foot forward for the new 2021 school year! So don’t take chances – follow this handy guide to help choose the best shoes for your kids.
Genetics, age, foot problems, trauma, pregnancy, foot swelling and wearing unsupportive footwear for too long are just some of the reasons why your feet may be wider than the ‘average’ person that shoe companies manufacture shoes for.
While swollen feet are a common problem we see here at My FootDr, it is also quite concerning for many patients – and frustrating when the only shoes you can fit are those ratty sandals you should have thrown out years ago.
Alongside the swelling, you’ll likely also be feeling discomfort or tenderness when walking or standing, and your skin may appear discoloured and tight. While foot and ankle swelling is most common in pregnant women and the elderly, it affects young adults too, and may even be a sign of an underlying problem that needs further investigation to rule out serious causes.
Let’s get into some of the reasons why your body is retaining too much water in your lower limbs and causing swelling, and what you can do to help.
“The pain just started and now I’m changing the way I walk so I don’t step on it, and I think the muscles in my legs are getting sore because of it”
“It hurts so much to put any pressure on it. It’s been a week – I thought it would’ve got better by now, but it’s just as bad as when the pain started, maybe worse”
“I haven’t been able to walk to work or go to the gym all week – which makes me feel just as bad as the pain. It’s horrible”
When your feet like they’re on fire, standing, walking and even getting out of bed can quickly become daunting tasks. Whether this burning sensation is constant or changes in intensity during the day, you don’t have to accept your current level of pain and discomfort as your long-term reality.
Here at My FootDr, our podiatrists work with patients to help manage and reduce the occurrence or intensity of these burning sensations, alongside any other symptoms that may accompany them. Our goal is to help you maintain your quality of life, mobility, comfort and independence.