How to Treat Foot Pain in Children

Foot pain is often a problem with children as they continue to grow, and can be caused by a myriad of problems. Since children are growing on a regular basis, growing pains are often the culprit, but you shouldn’t automatically assume that this is the case. Examine your child’s lifestyle. Is he or she active? What kind of shoes does your child wear? How often and during what times of day do the feet hurt? If your child is suffering from chronic foot pain, a visit to the pediatrician is in order, but here are a few ways to treat temporary foot pain in children.

Avoid Physical Activity
The first way to treat foot pain in children is by keeping your child inactive for a few hours. Prop your child up on the couch with pillows and the remote control and ask to be summoned if he or she needs anything. Staying off the feet entirely for three or four hours may stop the foot pain entirely, though you may have to insist on as little physical activity as possible for several days to repair sore or stretched muscles. Ask your child if the foot pain is starting to disappear after a few hours lying down.

Inspect Shoes
If your child is suffering from foot pain on a regular basis, it might be because his or her shoes don’t fit well. Inspect the shoes and ask your child to walk around in them in front of you. Does your child seem to favor one foot over the other? Is there sufficient toe room? Sometimes, the problem isn’t whether or not the shoes fit properly, but whether they are the right type of shoe. A child with wide feet, flat feet or a high arch may need special consideration for shoes. You can also ask a podiatrist about possible inserts to make your child’s shoes more comfortable.

Consider Flooring
One of my children complained of foot pain for the first two weeks after we moved into our new house. My wife and I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but eventually we realized it was the tile floor. My daughter was used to walking around barefoot on carpet in our old house and the switch to tile had bruised her feet, causing severe pain. If your child is dealing with a change in flooring, a soft pair of slippers to be worn in the house may solve the problem entirely.

Soak in Cool Water
Another way to treat foot pain in children is to draw a pan of cool water. Allowing your child’s feet to soak for twenty or thirty minutes will reduce inflammation and pain, allowing your child to get better faster. If you think that the pain is due to stretched or damaged tendons, however, you might have your child soak his or her feet in warm water sprinkled with Epsom salts.

Give Over-The-Counter Pain Medication
If you think that your child’s foot pain is severe enough, you might want to give him or her OTC pain medication every four-to-six hours, especially at bed time. Make sure that your child is getting plenty of rest and that he or she doesn’t resume heavy physical activity until the pain is gone. Talk to your pediatrician or podiatrist about possible causes and perhaps a diagnosis.