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Tip toe walkers

Information

Toe walking is common in healthy young children, and normally resolves spontaneously by 3 years of age.

This is typically a habitual or learned walking pattern that can be corrected with prompting.

Advise parents to play games with children encouraging weight transfer through heels – penguin walks, tight rope walks, calf stretches.

Refer to Paediatric orthopaedics:

  • Asymmetrical tip-toe walking
  • Delay or regression of milestones
  • Persistence beyond the age of 3/4 years
  • Suspicion of joint or neuromuscular disease (e.g., pain, swelling, stiffness, clumsiness, weakness)
  • Suspicion of autism spectrum disorder
  • Family history of muscle wasting disease