Strive OP News

A parent in Sterling Heights sits in an exam room on a Tuesday afternoon. The appointment has gone well enough. The clinician was kind. Then, in about ninety seconds, three sets of initials go by: AFO, KAFO, HKAFO.

The parent nods. The parents write them down. And the parent drives home on Van Dyke with no clear idea what any of them mean.

That happens every day in Shelby Township, Warren, Royal...

Is My Child’s Toe Walking Normal? What an Orthotist Looks For, and What Happens Next

It’s 11:47 p.m. The house in Shelby Township is finally quiet. And a mom is sitting on the edge of the bed, phone glowing, typing the same question she’s typed a dozen times before.

“Is my child’s toe walking normal?”

She’s seen it for months. Her son pads down the hallway on the balls of his feet, heels...

The insert cost $31 at the pharmacy, and the mother in Utica felt smart for buying it.

Her daughter, seven, had been complaining about her feet after soccer. Aching arches, tired legs, that whining fold onto the couch the second practice ended. The internet had opinions. A forum swore by a gel insert. A cousin knew a brand. The pharmacy aisle had a whole rack of them,...

Start with what these things are, because the words scare parents more than the devices ever could.

Pediatric bracing sounds like something out of a hospital drama. In practice, it is a small family of tools, each aimed at a different job, and once a parent can tell them apart, most of the fear drains right out of the room. Here is the field guide, generally to...