Leg, Feet and Balance Issues

[admin]

I think a lot of kids hunch forward when they "w" sit, contributing to the weakend trunk muscles. Combine that with a dropped shoulder and you have an imbalance as well. I'm no therapist, just some observations in my own kid.

[natsmom]

Hey there - our PT told us that the "w" sitting can cause in-toeing (or pigeon-toeing) and can weaken the knee ligaments which can cause future knee problems or at least make them more prone to injury. Funny enough, my husband would "w" sit constantly when he was a little boy and now is somewhat pigeon-toed, so I guess there is some truth to that one!

[TNT1999]

Kate & Christy, I can't believe you both can still W-sit as adults. Yikes! I tried it and it was just not going to happen! You must both be very limber. That reminds me of one time when the Birth to Three PT was here and she did a bridge so that Nicole would hopefully crawl under and I told Nicole to enjoy doing that with Cindy b/c I wasn't going to be practicing that with her! LOL! ~Tina

[admin]

TNT - I loved that article you posted on the 'w' sit. It really made sense and kind of point to several issues my 'w' sitting son is experiencing. Makes me mad that his PT was the one that taught him to sit that way. Thanks for posting the website!

[Susie]

I posted before signing in....so that post is from me.

[admin]

Thank you for asking what the W sit is...I was wondering as well. When our daughter (nearing 20 mo.) sits like that, I always put her on her butt with her legs in front of her, simply because it looks painful to sit like that! lol How do we want them to sit? She also has weak abdoman. Her Oncologist said that it would correct itself by the time she is 6. I don't have that knd of time, so we work out her abs quite often. Her balance is beter and beter with time (so far). We use the big ball for various exersizes, I have her pull to sit from a laying on her back psoition ( I spot her upper back) The couch is very soft, so we use that too. I just made her a bunch of 3 pound beabags to work out with . SHE LOVES them! She puts them in her little wheelbarrow and pushes on the floor, and on the carpet for more resistance.

Please post again the sitting position of choice to strenghten the abdoman.... I didn't quite understand that one. Thank you

[CW1992]

Hi! We were told to sit with legs in front - and like Tina said, legs to the side work good too - but don't let the feet go on both sides of your rump and to the back making a "w" shape. What helped my daughter so much when she younger was doing 'windshield wipers'. You lay on your back and stick your legs together up in the air and swing them side to side. Her stomach muscles got so strong, her balance got better, and she became stronger. Our whole family did them with her - but we'd take turns holding her shoulders down for her while she 'swished' back and forth. I feel that once you strengthen up your stomach - everything else just seems to work better - and she had so much more balance, her scoliosis degree went way down, her posture looked better.... everything imporoved - we did these nightly as a family fun thing (have to keep things fun!)
Christy

[TNT1999]

Hi, Susan. I don't know that different sitting positions do a lot to strengthen the abdomen. What we were saying though is that w-sitting tends to indicate that there is probably some weakness in the abdomen. The alternative sitting styles aren't necessarily to strengthen the abdomen, but to prevent other problems that could occur from w-sitting (hip, leg, back problems, etc.) As far as strengthening your stomach, the windshield wipers Christy mentioned are good. Also, another way to do them is against a wall -- lie down on your back and slide up so that your bottom is right up to the wall and your legs are upright against the wall. Another exercise is to lie down on your tummy, with your legs straight and your arms straight out in front and slightly elevate your arms and legs (like you're flying -- we call it "Superwoman"). Another game is to lie on your back with something small (ex. a thick foam puzzle piece) between your ankles and bring it up to your hands with your legs. Like Christy said however you can make them fun is good. ~Tina

[caroline smyth]

i dont know if this is a conection but my daughter is 16 and has right erbs palsy from a difficult birth,when she was 13 she started having difficulties walking,i thought this was growing pains and left it,but after a few weeks she could hardly walk,so i took her to my local hospital where they did an xray,which showed she had a slipped capital fimoral emphasis,she was admitted straight away that day and had an op to put a fixed screw to stop the slip from going any further,she then had to go back every few weeks to have scans to make sure the leg was ok,they then found that because she was so im ballanced on the right side that the other leg had to have a fix put in it too,so it was back to the hosp for a futher load of scans,but hopefully charlotte wont have any more probs with her legs,she has enough probs already with her arm.

[Sema]

These are great exercise ideas! Thanks for sharing them. I can't wait to try them with Evan as he just does not like the ball.