If any of these muscles are weak or overly tight, you may experience uncomfortable knock knees. Your hip muscles, ankles, hamstrings, and quadriceps muscles are critical for supporting your knees. However, in some cases it is caused by a muscular imbalance. Genu valgum in adults is generally nothing to worry about. There are several exercises that can help correct genu valgum in people who find it uncomfortable. However, some people can find that it causes knee pain and difficulty walking. Mild genu valgum is common and doesn’t generally cause problems, and genu valgum in children generally goes away without treatment.

When someone with genu valgum stands with their knees together, their feet do not touch. The knee joint is shaped or pulled in a way that causes the legs to bow inwards. If the separation between the ankles is severe, surgery may be an option.Genu valgum, sometimes known as “knock knees,” is a misalignment of the legs and knees. Most children with knock knees do not require any treatment, but if the condition persists after age 7, then a night brace attached to an orthopedic shoe may be recommended. If non-surgical treatment options do not correct your child’s bow legs, then surgery is considered. For children with severe, unresolved bow legs, your child’s doctor may recommend non-surgical treatment options such as bracing, physical therapy and medications. Treatments for Angular Deformities Treatment for Bow LegsĪs your child grows, the condition usually corrects itself. In addition, X-rays may be ordered if your child is older than 2 ½ years and has symmetrical legs. The diagnosis of bow legs or knock knees is made through a physical examination. In some cases, especially if your child is 6 years of age or older, knock knees may occur because of other medical problems such as injury of the shinbone, osteomyelitis (bone infection), overweight and rickets. Knock knees most often develop as a part of the normal growth process. When your child stands, the knees appear to bend toward each other and the ankles are spread apart. Knock-knee is a condition in which the legs curve inward at the knees. Bowed legs usually do not cause any pain, however, discomfort in the hips, knees, and/or ankles may occur during adolescence. Other common symptoms include an awkward walking pattern and turning in of the feet (intoeing). The most obvious symptom is bowing of the legs that appears when your child stands and walks. Rickets: It is a bone disease that occurs in children due to deficiency of calcium, phosphorus or vitamin D, which are essential for healthy bone growth.Blount’s disease: It is a condition in which there is an abnormality in the growth plate at the upper portion of the tibia (shinbone).Normally, the bowing will correct by 3 to 4 years of age and the legs may have a normal appearance. Physiologic genu varum: Most children below the age of 2, show bowing of the legs as a part of the normal physiological process.In most of the cases, children with bowed legs are significantly overweight.

Bowed legs are rarely seen in adolescents. When your child stands, there is a distinct space between the lower legs and knees.

If a child has bowlegs, one or both legs curve outwards.

Genu varum (bow-legged): Head of tibia/ fibula is inclined toward the midline of the bodyīowed legs are very common in toddlers.

Genu valgum (knock-kneed): Head of tibia/fibula (not the joint itself), is inclined away from the midline of the body.

Based on the inward/outward inclination of the head of the tibia/fibula away from this axis, knee angular deformities are classified as: Types of Knee Angular DeformitiesĪ perfectly aligned knee has its load-bearing axis on an imaginary line that runs through the hip, knee, and ankle. However, if the condition is not corrected, it could be a sign of an underlying problem that requires treatment. The condition usually becomes more evident when your child is 2 to 3 years old and normally corrects itself by 7 or 8 years.

During the second year: Bow legs (knees and tibia).

During the first year: Lateral bowing of tibia.

Physiologic angular deformities vary with age as: Angular deformities of the knee are variations in the normal growth pattern during early childhood and are common during childhood.