Berkeley Parents Network: Walking on Tiptoes

Berkeley Parents Network

Walking on Tiptoes

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Worries Big & Little > Walking on Tiptoes

Almost 6-y-o's idiopathic toe walking
5 yr old walks on tiptoes

Almost 6-y-o's idiopathic toe walking

Sept 2005

Does anyone have any personal experience with idiopathic toe walking, aka we don't know why your son walks on his toes? I'm considering surgery for my son to release his tendons so he won't walk on his toes. He walks on his toes most of the time. And all the time barefoot. The doc's at Children's Hospital,Oakland , Pediatric Othropedics are recommending surgery. He's almost 6 yrs. old, has walked on his toes since he was two. He can walk heel to toe sometimes, but is more comfortable walking on his toes. He's otherwise healthy, coordinated and does amazing well balance wise. We've ruled out CP and other syndroms. I hear this happens frequently as does the surgery. Love to hear anyone elses experiences. Many thanks. a concerned mama

One thing Judith Bluestone mentions in her work is that tiptoe walking suggests intestinal irritation, because the meridian runs through the foot. While this may seem far fetched, perhaps it may help you locate a less dramatic intervention than the suggested surgery. Judith's organization is The HANDLE Institute (www.handle.org). Nori

Dear Concerned Mama, This may sound strange, but how well does your child digest his food? It is possible the toe walking is related to a digestive problem. Many times when food is not fully chewed (sometimes because it is very loud to chew and quieter to just swallow) the enzymes needed for digestion are not released properly, food is not fully digested, intestines get backed up, etc. The heels of the foot have a lot of reflexology points for the digestive system, intestines, etc. In my experience, children who toe walk are often doing so to avoid the pain of putting the foot down and stimulating those painful points. Actually pretty smart of them! Feel free to email me if this sounds plausible and we can talk more about it. Good luck, Sindy

I've never heard of this so I can't give any real specific advice, but as a massage therapist, I've done lots of rehab on various surgeries and some of them completely unnecessary. I'm not saying your son's surgery isn't necessary, but PLEASE check out every possible avenue before consenting to cutting tendons. If they don't know why he does it, how can they say surgery is the helpful approach? Have you spoken to pediatric podiatrists? Osteopaths? Physical Therapists? Pediatric Chiropractors? Try going out of the medical realm. Please, NO SURGERY unless you know that it is the only helpful avenue. Does it hurt him to walk heel to toe? It's possible that from toe walking his leg muscles are so tight that it now may be painful or uncomfortable to stretch and use them as in heel/toe walking. That's my 2 cents. I'd be interested to hear the outcome if you care to e-mail me. Meanwhile, good luck. June

Both my sons walk on their toes, and always have. The toe-walking is more pronounced in the younger son, but both do it. After evaluation of our younger son by a developmental pediatrician (for other reasons), we learned that this is typically an issue of brain wiring. The area of the brain responsible for language also tends to dictate toe walking and many kids with unusual language patterns walk on their toes. Many autistic/Aspergers kids walk on their toes too. Not a causal relationship, but a reflection of the proximity of communication centers to walking centers of the brain. Neither of our sons has autism or Asperger's, though both are gifted, have some social issues, and the younger one's language is unusual (i.e., extremely articulate, almost poetic). We have concluded that we just make oddly wired kids.

We did nothing about our older son's toe walking, and little about the younger son's. We have worked on exercises to assure that his achilles tendon does not get short, and have occasionally tried to find high-top shoes than force the heels down some. (A good idea but hard to do now that high tops are out of style.) The older son is 14 now, and toe walking is no issue for him at all. The younger one is 10, and while some kids have occasionally teased him for walking on his ''tippy toes,'' he seems unperturbed.

Hope this helps. Mom of Toe Walkers

If you have ruled out cerebral palsy, then your best bet is the heel cord lengthening. Children's Hospital Oakland, Orthopaedics have an excellent record. This surgery doesn't always fix the problem, but from evidenced based medicine (research)it is the best option. Anon

5 yr old walks on tiptoes

April 2005

My 5 year old nephew has been walking on tiptoes 99% of time, since age 2. His doctor says he does it for fun and nothing to worry about. We are concerned. Anyone have experience with this? anon

Hi I'm a college freshman who toe walks. I've walked like this since I began walking. I walk like this because of needing more sensory feedback. One should try to consult a PT about this. My parents were told not to worry about this when I was a child anon

One of my daughters (now 18) did this until she was about six. From the time she walked she did it pretty much only on tiptoes, we used to call her the little ballerina. However, the doctor said there was no medical reason for her to be doing it (some kids are born with short tendons/ligaments that make it hard/impossible to stand flat - my husband had surgery for this when he was 4 years old which is why we were concerned with our daughter) and that she would probable grow out of it. So we just let her keep doing it, and she eventually stopped, although every once in a while I still see her standing on her toes (subconciously, and she walks normally now.) Since the doctor is not concerned I wouldn't worry about it. If adults are giving him lots of attention for it, it might be encouraging, however, so I would say just ignore it, and he'll probably grow out of it fairly soon. -Mother of former ballerina

You may want to have your son evaluated for Sensory Integration Disorder. Many children who have Sensory Integration Disorder do this because it heightens the sensorial awareness used for walking. Does he also flap his arms sometimes (or a lot?) Please have him evaluated. It's helpful to learn these things sooner than later, and how relieved you will be if it's just a phase! anon mom w/an early childhood specialist in the family

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