Need Advice for a Knock Kneed 3Yr Old

My daughter has knock kneed and she is 8. I noticed my daughter's knees bent inward, so I asked my chiropractor about it one day. She told me that it is called knock kneed. My mother-in-law has the same thing. When I asked my pediatrician about it, he told me there is nothing to do for it as long as my daughter is in no pain or not having difficulty running. He did suggest buying her shoes with good support -- no cheap shoes from Target. She plays softball just fine, so we will see. I am interested to see what others have to say about it.

I am 40 yrs. old & have 3 kids, ages 17 to 4. When my 4 year old started walking, his feet were pointed inward really bad & he was constantly falling since his feet were practically overlapping as he took steps forward. My pediatrician said at the time not to worry, that he'll outgrow it. I then started noticing grown men who walked with knocked knees, and it made me think that it could be possible that perhaps he would not outgrow it after all. I was worried! In the meantime, I had started seeking alternative healthcare for a painful lower back ailment with a chiropractic doctor. After many months of medical drs. & expensive prescription drugs, within weeks, the chiropractor had miraculously cured me, drug free! Also, during the same period my husband, teenager son & 11 yr.old daughter all went to the chiropractor for different sports related injuries...and all had completely been rehabilitated & cured. I saw that my chiro. dr. had treated many small children with total success. So I then decided to have my toddler give it try with the chiro. dr....and, after a few months of weekly adjustments it completely fixed the inverted, knock-knee issue! He is now a 4 1/2 yr. old with perfectly straight knees & runs like the wind! Anyway, up until a few years ago, I had always thought of chiropractic care as a hoax, because medical drs. will not endorse it...but after giving it a try along with my whole family, it's quite clear that it truly does work for whole body health. My advice to you would be to at least consult with a chiropractic dr.

Hi, By all means, see an orthopedist. When I was little, I was very pigeon-toed and my pediatrician put me in corrective shoes. I am no longer pigeon-toed, but now have knee and hip problems caused by the shoes. One of my sons suffered from the same problem, so I took him to an orthopedist who told me to leave it alone...that some of the worlds best long distance runners are pigeon-toed. So after learning all this, I would never mess with someone's gait without a very good orthopedist. Good luck! Grams P.S. My son is now a grown-up and has no gait problems whatsoever.

My daughter is 9 and I noticed almost immediately when she began walking that she was both pigeon toed and knock kneed. I took her to an orthopedic specialists around age 3 or 4 and he said the knee bones may adjust outward on their own and the condition might correct itself by age 7. He advised me if it did not I could look into orthodics(insert into the shoe) for her. The problem did not correct itself but after speaking with her general care physician and others I decided to let it be. She does not have any issues with it and plays lots of sports with no problems. Ideally, it does not look too graceful but what are you gonna do. I asked her if she could try to walk straight and she said it kills her knees! She's fine with it so I am too!

Often knock kneed children have misaligned low backs. Have you tried getting his spine checked by a chiropractor? I practice in Oxnard and have helped many children w/ this condition, fairly quickly.

Dr. C.

Hello A.:

I want to start out by saying I am not a doctor and I am not trying to sell you anything. I work at a hospital (and I have 2 children). Yesterday I asked one of the pediatric orthopedic surgeons about this. He said knock knees are common and often it is normal but there are lots of conditions a child may have that would cause knock knees like trauma, endocrin problems or other problems with bones. He also recommended that you have it checked out - so that you will have peace of mind if it is nothing or get it treated early if it is not.

I work at Shriners Hospitals for Children - Los Angeles. For more information visit www.shrinershq.org - there are 22 Shriners Hospitals in North America who treat children with burn scars and problems with bones, muscles or joints at no cost. If you are local and want your child to be seen or for a second opinion you can call our applications coordinator ###-###-####. For a hospital tour, you can call me at ###-###-####.

Good Luck! E.

I would suggest taking your child to the doctor. There are things they can do for it.