AFOs for Gus’s severe hypermobility

Gus could not walk because of his severe hypermobility. Now he’s playing football thanks to bespoke AFOs from the London Orthotic Consultancy.

Hypermobility is when a person has more than the normal range of movement in some or all of the joints in their body. It’s extremely common in children, however there is a vast difference in the severity of symptoms. At one end of the scale are those who are ‘double jointed’ and at the other are babies like Gus.

Gus was a ‘Covid baby’, meaning he was born at the height of the pandemic. This had an impact on how little routine NHS care was available; there were no visits from a health visitor for example.

By the time they were able to see a GP, there was a pronounced backlog in onward referrals to physiotherapists which was the GP’s original recommendation. Harriet decided to seek further advice and turned to an osteopath who told her that Gus’s symptoms were some of the most severe she had seen. His soles pointed out to the side and his feet very distended. The osteopath recommended that Harriet should seek out a specialist orthotist and recommended LOC.

Gus was first assessed by Connor Mumford, who heads up LOC’s Cambridge clinic, just before he was two years old. He could not walk. It was clear to Connor that Gus’s feet and ankles needed considerable support, so he prescribed bespoke AFOs that were untypically long, stretching right up to the knee.

Harriet says: “Connor was amazing, very clear about what he was going to do and able to tell me in non-jargon what we could expect from his recommended treatment. He was also extremely encouraging, reassuring us that Gus would get better. And when it got to the fitting, he paid so much care and attention to make sure that Gus was as comfortable as possible in these new things he was going to have to wear.”

Fast forward a couple of weeks and mum Harriet noted a transformation, “There is no stopping him now, he is now even able to play football, which is really difficult to believe, the improvement has been so rapid.”

Harriet was also grateful to Connor for suggesting that she get Gus checked out by a specialist pediatrician just in case he had cerebral palsy. “Connor explained to me that there were some similar symptoms and thought it was worth just making sure. It was funny because the NHS physio knew Connor and I got a sort of retrospective recommendation which I no longer needed! And Gus got the all clear which was wonderful news.”

What does the future hold? The AFOs are supporting Gus’s lower limbs so that his muscles can strengthen naturally as he plays and exercises with children of the same age, something that was impossible before.

Gus will be reviewed periodically at LOC’s new Cambridge clinic which has a gait laboratory that will help Connor monitor Gus’s progress and fine-tune his AFOs as appropriate. In time Gus will progress to just needing insoles to support his feet.

Contact us if you would like to know more about our bespoke orthotics and treatment for hypermobility.