Congenital diseases are a very serious problem that most newborns face. Along with the babies, their parents also suffer so many troubles. These diseases occur due to various environmental, psychological, and genetic reasons. Nowadays, the lifestyle of parents who are planning to conceive is not ideal, which causes them to face such anomalies in their newborns. Everyone prays for a healthy child, but due to many reasons, it does not happen the way it was desired.
Some are mental anomalies, while some are physical. Every year or every month, there are thousands of people born with some or other congenital disease. One such disease is clubfoot. It is a congenital disease in which the foot of the newborn is rotated internally from the ankle. Clubfoot treatment in India has grown widely, as every year, thousands of children are born with this anomaly. Sometimes the newborn is otherwise absolutely fit and fine, but the only problem lies with its foot. In other cases, the baby may also have other mental or physical abnormalities in addition to clubfoot.
The chances of clubfoot on both feet are very greater. Cases have shown that newborns having club feet have them on both feet. The child will be having difficulties while walking, and he won’t normally be walking as the other kids do. Sometimes these abnormalities are so mild that they can be treated with physiotherapies by a professional. At the same time, others might need surgery later on if the severity of their condition is more.
CAUSES: –
There could be many causes that lead to this disease, and this segment of the article will list them all for the readers to have a better grab of this topic.
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Genetic –
This congenital disease also shows up if there are any cases in the family history. Genetics plays a major role in deciding what features the baby would have. Therefore, the genes that run in the family history are sure to get transferred to the newborn. Though clubfoot treatment in India has found its pace, still genetic resolution needs to be found so that the future generation can be saved from this abnormality.
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Oligohydramnios –
This is a condition in which the mother’s womb does not have sufficient amniotic fluid, which leads to abnormalities like clubfoot. Amniotic fluid is a fluid that protects the newborn from many things. It is contained inside the amniotic sac, and it saves the baby from certain shocks and also transfers nutrients to it for proper growth. Now, in the case of oligohydramnios, the fluid is very less, so it is not able to give proper growth to the newborn.
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Unhealthy Lifestyle –
The lifestyle of the mother is also a big factor in the baby contracting these anomalies. If the mother is healthy throughout the pregnancy, i.e., maintains a healthy lifestyle, then chances are a lot more positive that the baby will be healthy too. On the contrary, if the mother smokes or takes alcohol or drugs during those 9 months after conceiving, the baby will have negative impacts. A little gratification of senses could lead to a lifetime of distress for the mother and the child. Thus, doctors advise the mother to stay clean during pregnancy, as it directly affects the baby in the womb.
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Other Birth Defects –
Congenital defects such as spina bifida, cranioschisis, and many such defects sometimes causes additional clubfoot situation in newborns. These big defects of the spinal cause disturbance in other functioning body parts also.
TREATMENT:
The best orthopaedics hospital in Gurgaon suggests that a medical professional knows everything about these congenital defects. So, it is best to commute with them if someone’s newborn has a clubfoot. Listed below are some methods to correct this abnormality.
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Casting –
This is a highly followed method to start with. The professional will stretch the foot of the newborn in the direction where it is supposed to be and then put it in a cast. This cast is exchanged every few days, and a new one is again placed after moving the foot of the baby in the correct direction.
The professional will cut the tendon that connects the baby’s heel to the calf muscle. This will promote the natural growth of that tendon till the time the last cast gets removed from the baby’s foot. This procedure is followed only after the newborn is of 2 weeks. It will start showing the results after 3 months, and after that, a few exercises and night shoes are recommended to the baby for better correction of the clubfoot.
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Surgery –
If the severity of the foot is more, and no other treatment is working for the baby, then the last option is surgery. The best orthopaedics hospital in Gurgaon recommends that clubfoot surgery should be performed before the baby starts to walk. The tendon that joints the heel to the calf could be made longer with the help of surgery if performed by an expert surgeon who has brilliant knowledge of this condition.
But it should not be misunderstood that immediately after a clubfoot surgery, the baby’s foot will be completely normal. It takes time for everything to be processed. The baby’s foot will be under the cast for a few weeks. The doctor may even advise the baby to stay in the hospital for a few days so that they can keep a check on the baby’s progress.
Conclusion
This article sums it up about how a clubfoot baby could walk normally with the preferred treatment depending on the severity. It also discussed the causes of this congenital defect and how it fully depends on the mother, and how she maintains a lifestyle after conceiving the baby. Every child is special and deserves the best treatment that is possible. Some people are not fortunate enough and cannot afford expensive treatment for their children. For them, government hospitals are available that have experienced doctors who help the baby to walk.