Keep Your Children’s Feet Safe this Summer

As we all are re-entering regular life outside our homes and the online school year is coming to an end, we at Texas Foot Specialists know that means it’s time for some summer fun for your children. We hope all our families get some much-deserved recreation time. We want to offer some precautions to help protect young feet from common summer hazards.

Sun Burn—An active day spent at the lake or pool is likely to ensure a good night’s sleep for your child but can also leave them with a debilitating sunburn on their feet. Most sunscreens wash off in water and even water-resistant ones need to be reapplied every two hours. Oftentimes when children are anxious to get back to their fun, the feet get missed when reapplying sunscreen. Make sure you apply to the entire foot—even the bottom—every time you apply to the rest of the body.

Ankle Sprains and Puncture Wounds—Summer brings more outdoor games like tag, whiffle ball, capture the flag, and just running around in the yard. Make sure your children are wearing sneakers that fit properly when enjoying these activities. Flip flops are not appropriate for active play. They provide no support or structure to protect feet. In fact, flip flops can actually be the cause of injury because feet slip out of them so easily when running and can cause an ankle-twisting injury. Sturdy shoes will also reduce the risk of puncture injuries from sharp objects.

Fungal Infections—There is one good use for flip flops, however, and that is keeping your child’s feet covered in public places like community pools and shared changing areas where athlete’s foot, fungal toenail, warts, and other infections lurk. These are all spread by direct contact. It’s also important to teach your child not to share socks, shoes, towels or other items that touch someone else’s feet.

If your child does sustain a foot injury or you notice unusual rashes or other symptoms in their feet, contact our Sugar Land (281-242-4448), Pasadena (281-991-0600) or Houston (713-664-6677) office for an appointment. Our podiatrists, Dr. Bruce Miller and Dr. Gregory Mangum, will treat your child and help them get back to enjoying the summer as soon as possible.