Healthy Shoes! Free Foot Assessment at Dr Kong

Ever since Troy was around 2 years old, he'd often wake up middle of the night crying of knee pains.  After doing my own research, i initially self-diagnosed it to be growing pains.

Wikipedia describes growing pains as "Pain symptoms relatively common in children. Typically, they are located in the muscles, rather than the joints, of the leg and less commonly the arm. They are usually felt on both sides, and appear late in the day or at night, waking the child, with pain varying from mild to very severe. Pain is absent by the morning, and there are no objective clinical signs of inflammation. Pain can recur nightly or be absent for days to months. Growing pain is not associated with other serious disease and usually resolves by late childhood, but frequent episodes are capable of having a substantial effect on the life of the child.^"

*You can read more about growing pains here.

It sounded like what Troy has except that his pains radiates from his knee (hence, joints) and it only occurs on his right leg and not both which is common to growing pains. The paranoid mommy in me was really concerned that it may be a sign of something more serious so we decided to schedule a visit to a pedia-chiropractor.

After doing several motor-skill tests, she advised us that one of Troy's foot was flat-footed. With much running throughout the day, it was expected that his knee would take a lot of beating and get sore at night. She said that kids with flat feet sometimes outgrow them eventually.  However, in the event that they don't,  it won't be advisable for Troy to engage in any sport that involves a lot of running.  Otherwise he may often experience knee pains afterwards.  I was relieved that it wasn't any serious illness but was a bit saddened that my very active son may not be able to play competitive sports that involved much running (i.e. basketball, soccer, etc).

Our temporary solution whenever he experiences pain is to massage the area or put a hot compress (we use the microwavable kind) on top of his knee. This will often help him get back to sleep.

A few weeks ago, my dad was telling me he had a foot diagnosis done at Dr. Kong. My dad shared that he was somehow relieved of his foot pain after using a Dr. Kong pad that was prescribed to him. I thought it may be the answer to my prayers and brought Troy to their branch at Robinsons Magnolia last weekend.



Measuring foot alignment



Foot stamp to check your arch







Troy's stamp shows he is flat-footed

They recommended a pair of rubber shoes that has a strong back and high arch for Troy. I knew that they were not just  pushing their products since I also did the assessment and they said there is nothing wrong with my feet. I wasn't really encouraged to buy anything.

We got Troy a pair of rubber shoes which was on sale (some children shoes are still on 50% off now). You can then take out the sole and place them in the other shoes to make them more orthopedic-friendly as well.

The pair we got is said to help build Troy's foot arch and assist him to outgrow having a flat foot (yes, it can apparently still self correct with kids). I am praying and hoping this will solve his midnight knee pains and allow him to play active sports in the future. They also sell insoles for adults who experience chronic foot, leg, and back pains.

Do visit their Facebook page to check out their shoe designs. I know they have branches in Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Magnolia, and Robinsons Ermita.