Pigeon Toes Quandary

I know all teachers have had students with varying degrees of Pigeon Toe, I have had a few myself in just the past few years alone. My latest quandary comes from one of my dear three year old's. She has severe "turn in" a near 90 degree inward turn when she doesn't concentrate on her position. Just this week, after a challenging time skipping I finally decided to talk with the parents. We've been having class for about 6 weeks, so I'm more comfortable with the student and parent now. I explained my observations and they agreed. The trick is the girl's doctor has told the parents "not to worry about it, plenty of athletes are pigeon toed." The Mom told me she's asked the Dr. at nearly every visit about it with the same response. Now that I've opened the door for conversation she almost seems relieved that I've noticed and want to help her find a solution. I explained that it's not her feet, but the rotation from the hip which effects the turn in, and that left without therapy she'll be prone to injury her whole life. Not to mention, it would be difficult for her to excel at dance or other sports. My advice was to get a second doctors opinion, consult an orthopedic doctor, and/or a chiropractor to get some options on treatments and therapies. I also showed her some at home stretches and things to do herself with her child. As well as things that I do during class to help her.

I found it interesting that this Mom instinctively knew something more needed to be done, but that the doctor's comments were so powerful he could override that instinct. One of my observations was that this first time Mom of an adopted child from another country had the instincts, but not the confidence to challenge the Dr.-- maybe because of the fact she's adopted, I'm not sure.

I walked away from the studio that night knowing that I really made a difference in the life of this child, from just one simple conversation. Now, the Mom feels empowered to get second opinion and to aggressively treat this child while time and growth are still on her side. Just one more reason why I love to be a dance teacher. We really can make a huge difference in the lives of children.