My daughter was born with a clubfoot that needed surgery. She had casting for a while and that didn’t work, so we moved to the next step. I thought it would solve the problem completely, but her doctor told me that she may not have as strong a foot as everyone else, even when she is an adult. Why would that be?

Surgical correction of clubfeet is done if the casting doesn’t work or it works, but not completely. While the shape and positioning of the foot may look fairly normal after surgery, there may be some internal issues that can’t be corrected. This may result in the foot not being equally as strong as an unaffected food.

Research that has followed adults who did have clubfoot surgery as children found that the adults do mostly have good use of their foot to perform regular everyday tasks. However, the studies also find that the clubfoot does tend to tire more easily, doesn’t have the strength of the other foot, and it is limited somewhat in it’s ability to move (range of motion). This means it may be more difficult to put stress on the foot, such as when running, for example.