can your bow legs get worse?

Question

Can leg claudication ever get worse on its own?

Answer 1

Depends : It depends on the cause. Some causes of bowed legs such as tibial torsion get better with age. Others such as ricketts and blount's dis need to be treated.

Answer 2

No: Most infants are born with bow legs. As they go from infants to toddlers, the bow legs often resolve. If your toddler still has bow legs by age 2 or if they have a significant difference in the bowing of each leg, you should contact your pediatrician.

Answer 3

No: Babys are folded up tight in the womb, often causing initial bowing.Once they start walking, the pressures over their legs produces a change in shape & the knees may actually angle in at 4 & straighten at 6 or so.In decades of practice I have not had one that didn't self correct.I occasionaly get xrays to monitor the more pronounced cases. Compairing films 6mo apart can show progress.

Answer 4

Depends on your age: Bow legs and in-turning feet are common in toddlers, worst at about age 2. Then progression to knock-knees happens, worst about age 7. The average adult has a few (5-7) degrees of knock-knee. Milder persistent bow-legs are left alone. If you have bow-legs when you quit growing, the it is permanent, short of surgical correction.

Answer 5

Bow legs can vary: There is variation during birth to age 6-8. There may also be post traumatic causes that linger. Also, genu varus can progress in adulthood with tibial bowing in some with osteoarthritis.

Answer 6

Not really: Depending on where someone's stage is in life (adolescent, child, puberty), bow legs do not necessary have to be permanent.

Answer 7

Deformity: Bow legging can be a sign for early vit d deficiency as well as other associated bony defects. But if it chronically persists and left untreated it can be devastating.

Answer 8

Yes worsening occurs: Bowed legs (varus knee) can worsen with time in that the varus alignemnt can advance about the knee with advancing collapse across the medial (inside knee joint space). Any medial bony lesion or deformity theoretically can worsen, thus worsening the varus alignment.

Answer 9

Depends on Severity: The answer really depends on how bow legged someone is and what age. Children may have a real problem and should be assessed by a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Adults would probably be better off with low impact activity but if you to run see a specialist (orthopedic, physical therapist, podiatrist) to be fit for inserts (orthotics) to help take stress off the back, hip, knees, ankles and feet.

Answer 10

Any: Horseback would be the humorous answer but many of us have some bowing and play anything.

Answer 11

Depends: It depends on the cause of bowed legs. Some people have a natural curve that creats that impression, but functionally they do very well and that is not easily noticeable. In that case, no correction needed. On the other hand, if there is any existing hip, knee or ankle issue, it must be corrected to prevent the progression and cure the problem.

Answer 12

Tibial osteotomy: Proximal tibial osteotmies ar the classic surgical cure for symptomatic bowed legs (varus alignment). Newest techniques involve a low morbidity approach to correct the alignment to neutral via placement of a peek plastic plate and screws (invisible on xrays) supporting an intervening wedge of bone graft substitute (dark wedge on xray). Full weight bearing in a locked brace is possible by 10 days.

Answer 13

Age of patient ?: Infants are often a bit bowed at birth from intra-uterine positioning. By the time they get to 3-4 they are often knock-kneed and naturally straighten by 5-6.

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