Help?

I am was born with a club foot, the worst that the doctors had ever seen at the time.   They had to cut my heelcord because it was wrapped around my ankle.  I am now 21 years old.  My ankle and foot have bothered me for years.  I believe the pain is caused due to the fact that I can barely move my ankle because my heelcord is now so short.  What I was wondering is if there is anything that can be done to correct this, since it must have not been done right years ago, or am I looking at a nightmare for the rest of my life....

Thanks
Chris

[chris.galati131]

Also, what are the chances of me passing the club foot on to my children when I have them?

[Lisa Kessler, MS, CGC]

Chris,

Unfortunately I can’t answer your question about the correction of your clubfoot as this is a surgical/medical question. I encourage you to look for physicians with specialty in this part of the body to determine the best course of action. I hope a solution is found for you soon.

Club foot has many causes. It is common that club foot is caused by the position of the baby in the uterus during development (deformation) and is not the result of a problem with how the foot is formed (malformation).  These individuals (with a deformation) are typically at no greater risk to have a baby with a clubfoot than anyone else. Sometimes clubfoot is genetic (malformation), and often the genetic types are associated with other problems in the individual. To get a true assessment of your risk, you need to visit a specialist who understands the art of identifying variations of development, called dysmorphology. This individual is typically a medical geneticist and can examine your family and medical history for clues to an inherited club foot, as well as do a physical examination of you. The physical exam is to see if there are any other clues, especially subtle ones that you might never have noticed, to point toward an inherited form of club foot as compared to the more common, not inherited type. You can find a medical geneticist through the American College of Medical Genetics.  

[PeaceMouse]

A related discussion, Does Clubfoot have any lasting disabilities? was started.