Why bow legs

In most kids, the outward curving of the legs corrects on its own by age 3 or 4. The legs might even look curved inward knock-knees. The legs usually straighten by age 7 or 8. Bow legs in older children usually is because of Blount disease or another medical condition.

Blount disease is more common in kids who:. Health care providers do an exam and ask about the child's medical history. They probably won't do any tests if the child is younger than 2 years old, feels well, and both legs are bowed to the same degree. Instead, they'll watch to make sure the bow legs gets better as the child grows. An X-ray might be needed to look for Blount disease or rickets. If rickets is suspected, blood tests can help make that diagnosis.

Kids with physiologic bow legs don't need to limit their activities. The bowing is getting worse. Bowing is not the same on both sides. Other test results suggest disease. At times, surgery is done to correct the deformity in an adolescent with severe bowlegs. Outlook Prognosis. In many cases the outcome is good, and there is most often no problem walking.

Possible Complications. When to Contact a Medical Professional. Call your provider if your child shows ongoing or worsening bowed legs after age 3. Alternative Names. If your child has bowlegs along with any of the following symptoms, they may have a more serious condition:. If your child has any of these symptoms, talk to their pediatrician or an orthopedic specialist. As a national and international orthopedics referral center, our Orthopedic Center has vast experience managing all aspects of bowlegs.

Our Lower Extremity Program offers comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment for children and young adults with conditions affecting their lower limbs. We have extensive experience treating disorders of the feet, ankles, knees, legs, and hips. Whether the patient is an infant, child, or adolescent, our goal is to help our patients live full, independent lives. In skeletally mature adolescents and in adults, an osteotomy is the treatment to straighten the leg.

X-rays are used to determine the location and magnitude of the deformity. In most cases, the tibia is treated, but there are situations when the femur or both femur and tibia are treated. When there is moderate deformity, the osteotomy is typically stabilized with internal fixation a plate or rod inserted into the leg. When the malalignment is more severe, gradual realignment of the limb through the osteotomy is done with an external fixator. With external fixators, pins are inserted into the bone and protrude out of the body to attach to an external stabilizing structure.

In some cases, the underlying bowleg condition causes one leg to be shorter than the other. This can also be corrected, using limb lengthening surgery. Learn more about when bowlegs are part of a child's normal growth pattern and when a bowleg condition falls outside of those patterns and should be assessed by a pediatric orthopedist.

Learn about related conditions and how, at HSS, physical therapists and biomechanical engineers in the the Leon Root, MD, Motion Analysis Lab assess bowleg patients after surgery to assess improvements in their walking ability. What are bowlegs? What are the symptoms of a bowleg deformity? What causes bowleg syndrome?

How are bowlegs diagnosed? Do I need to get my bowlegs fixed?