Parents' Guide To Clubfoot - Softcover

Betsy Miller

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0897936140 ISBN 13: 9780897936149

Publisher: Hunter House Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

About one in every thousand babies born each year has clubfoot, a disorder that affects foot and calf muscles. Because treatment usually begins soon after birth and continues for several years, parents play a key role in the treatment of clubfoot and need to be able to communicate effectively with their child's doctor. THE PARENTS' GUIDE TO CLUBFOOT is the only book about clubfoot that is written for parents so they can learn everything they need to know about their child's condition. It is an all-in-one resource with medical information, advice from parents, comments from clubfoot experts and even an illustrated story for preschoolers that parents can read aloud to their children.

Written in everyday language, the book covers clubfoot inbabies and older children from diagnosis to treatment for mild to severe cases. It provides details on clubfoot, its causes, treatment and care, along with an extensive list of resources and clubfoot assessment aids. In keeping with currently preferred treatments, it emphasises the Ponseti method, which minimises surgery and includes perspectives from Ponseti-trained clubfoot doctors and parents of children with clubfoot. However, separate chapters discuss all pre-treatment and post-treatment care options and one chapter covers surgery and post-surgery care if it becomes necessary.

Parents often have a hard time coping with the diagnosis of clubfoot in their newborn children and this book reassures them that the condition is treatable. Iftreated correctly, the child's foot will look normal and he or she will be fully able to walk, run and play. The book includes advice from children with clubfoot that highlights the positive effects of having clubfoot as a child, like getting presents after surgery, and shows active pictures of them after their treatment.

As mentioned, the Ponseti method of treatment - once disregarded as quackery - is the most common method of clubfoot treatment. It involves a series of casts and braces that slowly reposition the foot. To prevent a relapse, these braces need to be worn until the age of four or five. The book provides instruction, advice and tips for caring for a child in a cast, putting on the different braces required for the Ponseti method and solving common problems like bruising. It, also, includes a useful list of signs that a child's foot is relapsing.

The three most important aspects of the book are:

1. It reassures parents that clubfoot is treatable and that, with the right treatment, their child's foot will look normal and he or she will be able to walk, run and play.

2. It is important to find a doctor skilled in treating clubfoot with a nonsurgical approach. This is called the Ponseti method after the late Dr.Ponseti, who developed it.

3. Once a child's foot is corrected, following through with brace wear as directed until the age of four or five is the best way to prevent a relapse in which the foot needs to be corrected again.

About this title

Review:

"I am a nursing student and enjoy reading these types of books so that I can have a deeper understanding of the causes and treatments. This one interested me a great deal because I myself had to wear casts when I was younger, though I have no recollection of it. The author goes to great lengths to explain everything in a way that is easy to understand. I also like the resources that she provides so that parents will have a plethora of information already found for them; all they have to do is go to whatever website that they find interesting from the list. A must read for anyone who has a child with clubfoot."
- Sealford, LibraryThing Reviewer

"This is a great guide for parents. It explains the Ponseti method of treatment and goes through each step in the process. The book describes the health care personell whom are invoved in the treatment process, and clearly explains what each person does. The book gives lots of helpful hints on all aspects of caring for a child being treated for clubfoot: from diaper changes to playing. It gives a good description of the braces that are used and how they work, as well as information about the types available and where to get them."
- Central Peninsula Hospital, Arkansas

About the Author:

Betsy Miller is the author of The Parents' Guide to Hip Dysplasia and a member of the International Hip Dysplasia Institute Advisory Board. She wrote The Parents' Guide to Clubfoot to provide support and information to families of children with clubfoot. Miller lives in Cupertino, California, with her husband and their two daughters, where she writes for high-tech companies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hunter House Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0897936140
• ISBN 13: 9780897936149
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144