Nearly 200,000 babies are born with
clubfoot each year but thanks to a safe
effective and non-surgical method the
majority of these children will be able
to run, jump, play in the park with little
trace of this birth defect.
Here to talk
about the first steps a parent can take
in treating their newborn baby is MD
Orthopaedic medical consultant Dr. Matt
Prihoda, also here is Jennifer Kovacs
and her gorgeous, most handsome son Ezra,
who was born with clubfoot.
Good morning
to all of you.
Good morning.
You're so cute, how old are you Ezra?
5 and three-quarters.
5 and three-quarters and a ham.
Doctor, tell me first about clubfoot a lot of people
really haven't heard about this.
Clubfoot is a congenital defect that is found
usually in utero at about 16, 18 weeks
of a inward or twisted foot
deformity, it's usually because of tightened
ligaments and tendons in the area that
twists the foot.
Jennifer your son was born with
clubfoot tell me what happened how did
you find out?
We found out at the 12-week
sonogram.
Oh wow!
They do yeah, they do a
fetal anatomy scan where they check each
of the baby's body parts.
And you're
unaware of course.
Unaware I had no idea,
my husband are young, healthy no defects
in our family, so we were very surprised,
very scared.
They came in and said?
Yes so when the technician left, the
doctor came in to go over the results with
us and said everything looks great but,
oh you heard that but, your heart sank.
Sinks and my husband I just look at each
other, we have no idea what's coming and
he shows us from the sonogram the
pictures of Ezra's feet and they were completely
bent inward.
You would actually see that?
Like clear as day there was just no, and you
have no idea what it means?
We have
no idea what it means and your clubfoot
and I think you just sort of picture
maybe like a Frankenstein foot and what
is this going to mean for our child?
And he's your first?
And he was our first so
we just definitely didn't expect anything of the sort and it was
it was terrifying we started doing
research to educate ourselves about it and
we talked a little bit about our about the
situation with the doctor at the time.
I'm thirsty.
He's thirsty and we're
going to get you some water in just a
minute.
In fact my producer is getting up right
now because this is TV and bringing you
water because you're so special.
You realize that there was a
treatment for it.
Yeah, there's actually I think
numerous different ways to treat it and
after doing research we felt as though
the Ponseti method which is a method
that uses a series of casting when the
child is an infant and then afterwards
they wear a bar with like little boots
on it.
Doctor let me bring you in real
quick as he's having his water because
he is the superstar this morning.
What is the Ponseti method what is she
talking about and how does that help?
So the Ponseti method is a
manipulative technique that was devised by
Ignacio Ponseti upon study in the 1950s
university of Iowa that takes the foot through
a manipulative course.
Okay.
Using a series
of casting that covers a course of about
six to eight weeks that lifts and
externally rotates the foot into the
normal position.
Okay.
Thereafter they are then at the last
casting have a surgical correction of
the Achilles, release of Achilles if you
will, and then they're placed after that
final casting into these boots and brace
or bar, if you will these are called AFOs
and they keep the foot in the corrected
position initially for 90 days, 23 hours
a day.
In the following phase they are
then in the same bar in boot for naps
and night time.
And how long in total?
Yeah that can go up to four years and
more or less.
So early intervention I'm
going to assume here is really important?
- absolutely.
I mean I think with the
casting you know you've an infant so
their concept of awareness I think is a
little bit less.
And he still wears it?
He's still in the boots
but at infancy is when they start the
method and it's with like literally you
know you break your leg you get a cast,
so these babies have casts that go from
their toes all the way to their groin, so
if it's bilateral it's both legs which
is what Ezra has and then after the
casting which is about three months then
the casting is basically I guess sort of held
in place by wearing the boots in the
bottom.
And it must been pretty amazing
to actually see the process where I mean it
looks like a deformity for all other.
Because today I see
nothing wrong at all.
I know.
Amazing.
Yeah it really is an amazing process
that does work and.
And doctor another thing amazing
is the fact that the company also gives
back to the community I know you travel
to third world countries and they also
donate some of the portions, talk to me
about that that's really huge.
Yeah John Michell is the inventor and
founder his wife Jean in 2009, after the
company got started they devised a
nonprofit organization that called on this
path that gives 50 percent of the
proceeds to this organization to be used in
several countries around the world.
Its focuses
on clubfoot initiatives but they care
for a variety different of medical needs
throughout the world.
And of course you
being here creating awareness, and you
superstar Ezra I know you were thirsty
and you're probably a little bored but
I'm going to bring you in now because
you're so cute how are you feeling?
Good!
running around a lot?
Mmm yes!
And your favorite sport?
Fishing.
Fishing, really?
What's the biggest fish you've ever
caught?
Uh Bonita.
Excellent!
You like to eat fish too?
No!
So you fish, you catch them and you
put it back?
Yes but uh one day I was at
my dock and I was fishing and I caught
this ten foot and you always means my
fish - and you - I almost decided to
bring it home.
But you didn't?
Because you're such a great kid!
Thank you so much for being here.
You're a superstar - give me a high five.
Jennifer thank you so much for sharing your
story and there goes the water boy again.
Doctor thanks for all information and
for more information about this
non-surgical method to treat Club Foot, go to
md orthopaedics dot com, that's md
orthopedics dot com or check out our website the
balancing act dot com.
(music.)