Hello, everyone. My wife is 35 years old and has multiple issues with her legs and feet. She's had these problems since childhood but never received proper medical care for them. She still to this day has never sought professional help for her issues as she's severely doctor-avoidant (an unfortunate by-product of her childhood neglect).

From examining her myself and doing internet research, I believe she may suffer from significant femoral anteversion and metatarsus adductus with some mild internal tibial torsion. Basically, she's knock-kneed with very high-arched pigeon-toed feet with toes that curve inward and overlap one another. Her knees naturally point inward, as do her feet, causing her a great deal of hip pain when she walks. She also has foot pain because the way her feet are angled, all the pressure is on the outside of her feet (excessive supination). She's developed severe "tailor's bunions" on the outer edges of her feet because of this. Her overlapping toes are painful as well. She was an uncorrected "w-sitter" as a child and this likely aggravated her condition (W sitting - definition of W sitting in the Medical dictionary - by the Free Online Medical Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia). She also had ill-fitting shoes and didn't receive proper nutrition as a child which probably also added further complications.

From all the reading I've done, it seems femoral anteversion and metatarsus adductus usually resolve themselves naturally as a child ages. This was obviously not the case with her and the older she gets, the more pain these problems are causing her. What are her options for dealing with these conditions? I've seen surgery suggested for older children but what about a 35-year-old adult? Her legs and feet are completely misaligned and lots of abnormal stresses are occurring whenever she walks to compensate for this. Her leg muscle development is likely an indication of this as well. Short of surgery, what else can be done? If her feet were balanced somehow with orthotic inserts, could that help everything else align more properly? As I mentioned, her arches are very high and when she walks with her knees pointed inward, the outside of her feet take all the stress. The misalignment greatly affects her hips as well. What about her inward curling toes? Because of their odd shape, it's very difficult to find shoes that fit her comfortably.

I just want to know if she'll be stuck suffering with this for the rest of her life or if there's something that can be done. I'll follow up with more info, if needed. Thanks!

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