Child has difficulty running and doing leg exercises

[cindyf]

My 10-year old daughter runs "funny" and has difficulty performing leg exercises that involve going to the ground and coming back up.  She cannot do lunges without looking like a newborn calf struggling to stand and gain her balance.  Since the age of 5, she has seen an orthopedic surgeon, a physical therapist and a neurologist without sucess in identifying her leg problems.  Her PE coaches throughout the years have insisted something is wrong with her legs, but none of the doctors can identify the problem.  The doctors shrug it off as her "not being an athlete."  I believe her problem goes beyond not being an athlete.  She cannot even go down stairs without holding the rail for stability.  More than once, strangers have asked me if she ever had a leg injury.  People have even said she appears to have rheumatoid arthritis, but the tests came back negative.  On several occasions while she is running, her leg appears to give way and she falls.  When performing lunges, her leg gives way as well.  What do you think about some sort of weight training?

[SupaFighta]

You should try having her take swimming classes since swimming can help strengthen her legs as well the rest of her body. Weight lifting at 10 years old probably wouldn't be recommended since that seems too young as she is still growing.

[bobthetrainer]

Before determining a therapy, I would recommend taking your child to be evaluated again to determine the root cause of the problem (preferably at a major teaching hospital).  It sounds like she has been evaluated by the correct specialties, but without success, so a teaching hospital is a good alternative for cases that are quite complex or unusual.

[Oli767]

My son (11 years old) has the exact same problem.  Did you ever find out what causes this condition?