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Foot and Leg Pain Centre

Leading Children's Podiatrists

Caring for little feet, one step at a time

Paediatric Podiatrist

Does your little one often complain of sore feet or legs?

Dr Angus Chard PhD, the owner and leading Certified Sports Podiatrist at the Foot and Leg Pain Centre, has a special interest in children’s podiatry. With a Doctorate in Lower-Limb and Foot Musculoskeletal Medicine, focusing on Paediatric and Sports Injuries, Dr Chard’s extensive knowledge sets him apart in the conservative management of children’s foot and lower limb conditions. Dr Chard personally oversees all treatments provided by the clinic’s podiatrists, who also share a special interest and focus on children’s podiatry. Dr Chard’s qualifications, experience, and dedication to children’s foot health ensure an exceptional level of care in the field.

Paediatric Podiatrists in Dural

When treating children, we know that a medical setting can often be anxiety-inducing or overwhelming. That’s why we always strive to create a comfortable and welcoming environment for children – not an unnecessarily serious or scary one. Our ultimate goal is to provide the best experience and care possible for every little patient.

Michael Chard, a Licensed Service Dog, has a remarkable ability to provide comfort and emotional support through scratches and cuddles. With a calm and affectionate demeanour, he helps ease anxiety in children and offers solace to those in need.

Foot and Leg Pain Centre

How We Can Help You

Flat Feet

Flat feet in young children, typically noticed after 18 months, are common and usually correct themselves over time. However in some cases they do not correct and result in life long consequences. Early assessment is essential, much like checking their eyes or teeth, to identify conditions that benefit from timely intervention. Once assessed, children can be monitored to ensure they outgrow any identified conditions.

Intoe Walking

Intoe walking, often called pigeon toes, is quite common in young children and usually resolves on its own by the age of 4. However, if it continues beyond this age, it can lead to issues such as instability, foot or leg pain, and changes in how your child moves. Addressing it early can help prevent discomfort and support healthy development.

Toe Walking

While common in toddlers, persistent toe walking beyond the age of 4 may indicate underlying issues such as muscle tightness or neurological concerns. Left unaddressed, it can also lead to joint pain and problems in the knees and lower back. Early assessment is important to prevent complications, support healthy development, and ensure your child’s comfort and mobility.

Late or Non Walkers

Children not walking by 18 months may experience various foot or leg concerns. Initial podiatric assessment and quantification followed by re-measuring forms the basis of monitoring Childs progressive healthy development.

Banana Foot

Banana foot (metatarsus adductus), results in feet appearing curved-in appearance and this is typical at birth due to foetal position and intrauterine pressure. While it may correct itself up to the age of 4, interventions after the age of 2 are less effective, reinforcing the need for early identification. When ignored it will become a structural abnormality and may lead to a myriad of dynamic and symptomatic aches and pains.

Growing Pains

While generalised leg aches and pains may be considered reasonable when occurring for weeks following a growth spurt world authorities agree that this is abnormal beyond two months and can be easily addressed and resolved when managed as gross muscle overuse syndromes. Your children do not need to grow up in pain and the concept that growing pains is a normal symptom of growing is an old fashioned outdated discussion point without any evidence.

Severs

Sever’s disease, affecting children ages 7–12, results in heel pain during growth spurts. This condition is often activity-related, especially in active children. However inactive children also suffer from this debilitating heel pain which can generally be easily treated in both active and inactive children by addressing the underlying structural predispositions.

Vertical Talus

Excessively flat feet can sometimes result from a vertically aligned talus (talipes calcaneovalgus). While this condition often corrects itself over time, in some cases it doesn’t, leading to flat feet in children, teens, and adults. This can reduce foot strength and cause related symptoms and compensations. Identifying the issue early can help children achieve important milestones like standing, walking, climbing stairs, and running.

Foot And Leg Pain Centre

Sydney's Leading Paediatric Podiatrist

As toddlers grow, their legs and feet change significantly. Monitoring their growth through regular measurements helps identify issues early, allowing timely intervention. Ensuring healthy adult legs begins with early detection and care — take action for your child’s well-being.

1-2 years

At this stage we closely monitor your babies progression to a toddler, we closely monitor your baby's foot structure and development, ensuring healthy growth as they begin to crawl, stand, and take their first steps, addressing any concerns early on.

2-3 years

We assess your toddler's early walking patterns, posture, and balance, identifying any issues like excessively flat feet or that may have compounding effects as their feet and legs develop, and offer advice to support healthy movement as they explore.

4-6 years

As children become more active, we check for common foot conditions such as excessively flat feet or walking irregularities such as in-toeing, toe walking and clumsiness, ensuring their feet develop properly and they are able to walk, run and play with confidence.

Paediatric Assessment

Tiny feet deserve big care – schedule your little one’s podiatry appointment today. 

Foot And Leg Pain Centre

Supporting your child's growth

Growing bodies can develop achy legs, foot or leg posture issues, and structural abnormalities. Early identification of these problems supports healthy skeletal growth and helps them keep up with their peers.

At the Foot and Leg Pain Centre, we support early care for healthy development.

Your First Visit

At your child’s first visit, we’ll conduct a thorough, stress-free, and fun assessment to diagnose their foot health, ensuring a comfortable, supportive environment for both you and your child.

Treatment

We create personalised treatments tailored to your child’s needs, concentrating on focused strategies to support healthy foot development and relieve any discomfort they may experience.

Working Towards Your Outcomes

Our goal is to help your child achieve the best possible outcomes, ensuring they walk, run, and play with improved foot health and confidence, all while feeling active and happy.

Why Choose Us

Podiatry Dural

A Team You Can Trust

Dr Angus Chard, PhD, is an internationally recognised leader among his peers – a second generation Certified Sports Podiatrist with extensive clinical experience, and leads a team of collaborative professionals.

Motivated To Help

The whole team at Foot and Leg Pain Centre is dedicated to helping people, including children of all ages, to reach their goals and reduce their pain.

Evidence-Based Care

In addition to our sunny dispositions and ability to help children feel at ease, we provide all of our treatments with a balance of scientific evidence and clinical experience. We present the facts and treatment options, supporting your decisions in a patient-focused, stress-free environment.

Helping Little Feet And Legs

We offer a wide range of treatment options at Foot and Leg Pain Centre. The specific treatment for your child will depend on various factors, such as where the pain is, the type of pain, and its cause.

Some children may benefit from 3D printed corrective custom orthotics, while others may simply need to be monitored with follow-up, footwear advice, foot strengthening, posture and biomechanical assessmentsmanual rehabilitation, or walking and running technique adjustments.

Meet Our Founder

Dr. Angus Chard PhD

Our Founder and Director, Dr Angus Chard PhD and Certified Sports Podiatrist has over 32 years of clinical experience and is dedicated to assisting his young patients in finding the right balance between available evidence and effective treatment.

Because healthy feet lead to happy kids – book an appointment with Dr Angus Chard PhD or one of our qualified podiatrists today.

Meet The Team

Michelle Cuthbert

Michelle Cuthbert, a Podiatrist with over 20 years of experience, has a special interest in children's podiatry. A runner herself, she values the importance of early intervention for foot health. As a mother of two young girls, Michelle is dedicated to helping children thrive with personalised podiatric care.

Thomas Shannon

Thomas Shannon is a skilled podiatrist and professional athlete with a special interest in paediatric lower limb care. Drawing on his background in musculoskeletal strength and conditioning and elite athletics, Thomas provides comprehensive care for young patients. He has proudly represented Australia in hammer throw and Olympic weightlifting.

Foot And Leg Pain Centre

Book Now

Paediatric Assessment

Tiny feet deserve big care – schedule your little one’s podiatry appointment today. 

Foot And Leg Pain Centre

Frequently Asked Questions

In some cases, yes. Having your child assessed once provides the foundation for monitoring and ensuring they do “grow out of it”. Ignoring concerns may expose your child to unnecessary pain and discomfort, resulting in the windows of opportunity to treat developmental conditions closing as not all children grow out of it nor ‘need to put up with it’. Podiatry treatment can help identify and correct potential problems so your child can avoid pain as they grow.

While it’s reasonable for some children to experience the same activity-related aches and pains adults experience, it is certainly not normal for them to suffer from persistent achy tired legs and feet. Persistent Growing Pains are easily treated when the underlying cause to muscle overuse is identified and addressed.

Children with flat feet have been reported as fatiguing quickly when performing physical activities poorly and functioning with more pathological knee and ankle motions. Arch maturity is reached by age eight, and 39% of adolescent children retaining flat feet may develop knee pain, while 35% may develop hip and lower back pain. Indeed adult like walking matures by the age of four, and ignoring abnormal foot positions can result in children retaining abnormal walking styles such as ‘pigeon-toed’, excessively bowed or knocked knees and ‘toe-walking’ into adulthood.

It’s important to note that the earlier the assessment, the better. During your first visit
your child’s feet and legs will be measured and quantified with a thorough
biomechanical assessment and gait analysis. Acurate measuring is the first step to
monitoring. This will allow us to check them again in the future to ensure they do
“grow out of it”. All children, including infants, can develop foot and leg pain and
structural abnormalities, so a trusted, knowledgeable healthcare professional should
address these as soon as possible.

No – you do not need a referral to book a podiatry appointment, no matter your age or reason for visiting. Simply book an appointment online, or contact the practice directly, and we’ll gather the information we need during your initial assessment.

We encourage all parents to have their children checked once just as they would
their eyes or teeth. If your child is experiencing foot or leg pain, we can help. If you’re
unsure, an initial assessment is best – we will identify the problem and suggest the
best course of action. For emergencies, always call 000.

Children’s shoes should always be comfortable, with enough length and width, including plenty of toe room. The evidence is clear that barefoot is ideal for developing feet, as children who grow up without shoes have been shown to develop healthier, stronger feet. It has been well-argued that the sensory touch of the ground stimulates muscle activity, supporting healthy foot development. Even the most flexible and minimalist supportive shoes can interfere with this neurological feedback.

In all cases, the choice of shoes that are best for your children to wear depends on the goals to be achieved. In some cases, barefoot-like, minimalist, flexible footwear is the best choice, while in others, more supportive styles of footwear with varying levels of support are necessary. They should have a flat, flexible sole that bends near the toe and a front that is wider than the heel. Fasteners, such as laces or straps, are essential to keep the feet comfortable in the shoe without allowing for too much movement or slipping.

The team at the Foot and Leg Pain Centre, led by Dr Angus Chard PhD, have the experience, qualifications, and relationships with shoe stores and manufacturers to guide you through this labyrinth of ever-changing choices. For footwear advice specific to your child’s foot concerns, consult our team of podiatrists today.

Yes, of course we do. But more importantly, we recognise the importance of balancing the evidence with experience. To blindly follow the evidence is a sign of a naive practitioner. Here are references for the information we have provided on this page

 

  • Alfaro-Santafé, J., et al. (2021). “Effectiveness of Custom-Made Foot Orthoses vs. Heel-Lifts in Children with Calcaneal Apophysitis (Sever’s Disease): A CONSORT-Compliant Randomized Trial.” Children 8(11): 963. 
  • Bleck, E. E. (1983). “Metatarsus adductus: Classification and relationship to outcomes of treatment.” Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 3(1): 2-9. 
  • Chard, A., et al. (2011). Effect Thong Style Flip-Flop Footwear On Children’s Hallux Sagittal Plane Motion During Gait. International Society of Biomechanics, Brussels, Belgium, publisher.  
  • Chard, A., et al. (2012). “Effect of thong style flip-flops on children’s midfoot motion during gait.” Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 5(Suppl 1): O19. 
  • Smith, R., et al. (2012). “Biomechanics of footwear design.” Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 5(Suppl 1): I1.  
  • Chard, A., et al. (2013). “Effect of thong style flip-flops on children’s barefoot walking and jogging kinematics.” Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 6(1): 8.  
  • Chard, A., et al. (2015). Effect of thong style flip flops on children’s sidestep kinematics International Society of Biomechanics in Sport, Poitiers, France, Sports Biomechanics.  
  • Chard, B.A., The effect of unsupportive and supportive footwear on children’s multi-segment foot dynamics during gait. 2017. USYD Thesis – DOWNLAOD HERE     http://hdl.handle.net/2123/18659 
  • Gijon-Nogueron, G., et al. (2016). “Establishing normative foot posture index values for the paediatric population: A cross-sectional study.” Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 9(1): 1.  
  • Kothari, A., et al., Are flexible flat feet associated with proximal joint problems in children? Gait and Posture, 2016. 45: p. 204-210. 
  • Lin, C.-J., et al., Correlating factors and clinical significance of flexible flatfoot in preschool children. Journal of pediatric orthopaedics, 2001. 21(3): p. 378-382. 
  • Mauch, M., et al. (2008). “Foot morphology of normal, underweight and overweight children.” International Journal of Obesity 32(7): 1068-1075.  
  • McKay, M. J., et al. (2015). “1000 Norms Project: protocol of a cross-sectional study cataloging human variation.” Physiotherapy.  
  • Mickle, K. J., et al. (2006). “The feet of overweight and obese young children: Are they flat or fat?” Obesity 14(11): 1949-1953.  
  • Mudge, A. J., et al. (2014). “Normative reference values for lower limb joint range, bone torsion, and alignment in children aged 4-16 years.” Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics Part B 23(1): 15-25. 
  • Redmond A, Crane Y, Menz H. Normative values for the Foot Posture Index. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research. 2008;1(1):6. 
  • Sanders, R., Orr, R., Chiu, C., Chard, A., Tompsett, C., Fleeton, J., Davies, T., Fong Yan, A. (2018). Development of talent of adolescents in Australian sports high schools. In Pedro Morouço, Portugal: ESECS/Instituto Politcnico de Leiria.  
  • Staheli, L., et al. (1985). “Lower-extremity rotational problems in children. Normal values to guide management.” J Bone Joint Surg Am 67(1): 39-47. 
  • Sutherland, D. H. (2001). “The evolution of clinical gait analysis part l: kinesiological EMG.” Gait & Posture 14(1): 61-70. 
  • Sutherland, D. H. (2002). “The evolution of clinical gait analysis: Part II Kinematics.” Gait & Posture 16(2): 159-179. 
  • Sutherland, D. H. (2005). “The evolution of clinical gait analysis part III – kinetics and energy assessment.” Gait & Posture 21(4): 447-461. 
  • Wegener C, et al. (2011). “Effect of children’s shoes on gait: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 4(3). 
  • Wegener, C., et al. (2013). “Effect of sports shoes on children’s vertical jump performance and midfoot and ankle kinetics.” Footwear Science 5(SUPPL. 1): S58-S59.  
  • Wegener, C., et al. (2013). “Effect of sports shoes on midfoot power generation in children while walking and running.” Footwear Science 5(sup1): S55-S56. 
  • Wegener, C., et al. (2015). “In-shoe multi-segment foot kinematics of children during the propulsive phase of walking and running.” Human Movement Science 39: 200-211. 

We’re an audited and approved NDIS provider and welcome all NDIS patients, whether NDIS-managed, agency-managed or self-managed. We understand the need for an individualised experience and are sensitive to the additional time that may be required for appointments. Whether a patient has heightened touch sensitivity, requires wheelchair assistance, or has other specific needs, we are experienced and happy to assist.

We are trusted by thousands of happy patients and our results speak for themselves