Your Child's Painful Foot Bone

Have you noticed a little bump starting to form at the tip of your child’s toe? Was it not there before? It is possible that your child could have a tumor forming in your bone. Now in the last post, we talked about benign soft tissue lesions that can form. The same can happen in bones. In children, there is a tumor called an enchondroma that can grow within their bone and cause the skin to pouch outward. It can also occur in bones where you won’t see the results in the skin. There is nothing to be concerned about though, because this particular tumor is benign. The vast majority of enchondromas are painless and will never be noticed.

In some cases, an enchondroma can actually weaken the bone that it is in because of its size or impinging on the edges of the bone. In a growing child, they can put pressure on the growth plates. In any of these instances, your child may experience pain from the enchondroma because of its location. For this reason, enchondromas are typically removed if they are painful.

The procedure to remove these is very simple and for children, although it is always scary for parents when their kid goes through surgery, it is a very minor procedure and they heal very well.  The part of the bone with the tumor is removed, it is cleaned out and the skin is closed up. In instances where the tumor is close to the growth plate, great care will be taken to preserve the growth plate.

So, if you or someone you know has a child that is having pain in the bones in their feet, you should seek help from your podiatrist. If you live in the Tewksbury or Chelmsford, Massachusetts area, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see your children and help treat their feet. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.