Foot Injuries and Disorders—Birth Defects

A birth defect is a problem that happens while a baby is developing in the mother’s body. Most birth defects happen during the first 3 months of pregnancy. One out of every 33 babies in the United States is born with a birth defect.

A birth defect may affect how the body looks, works or both. Some birth defects like cleft lip or neural tube defects are structural problems that can be easy to see. To find others, like heart defects, doctors use special tests. Birth defects can range from mild to severe. Causes can include

• Genetics
• Exposures to medicines or chemicals. For example, alcohol abuse can cause fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Infections during pregnancy
• Certain medicines. Before you get pregnant, talk to your health care provider about any medicines you take.
• Not getting enough of certain nutrients. For example, not getting enough folic acid before and during pregnancy is a key factor in causing neural tube defects.

For most birth defects, the cause is unknown.

Health care providers can diagnose certain birth defects during pregnancy, with prenatal tests. That’s why it important to get regular prenatal care. Other birth defects may not be found until after the baby is born. Sometimes the defect is obvious right away. Other times, the health care provider may not discover it until later in life.

Babies with birth defects often need special care and treatments. The treatments may include surgery, medicines, assistive devices, and therapies.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Intersex (Medical Encyclopedia)

Each of your feet has 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments. No wonder a lot of things can go wrong. Here are a few common problems:

• Bunions – hard, painful bumps on the big toe joint
• Corns and calluses – thickened skin from friction or pressure
• Plantar warts – warts on the soles of your feet
• Fallen arches – also called flat feet

Ill-fitting shoes often cause these problems. Aging and being overweight also increase your chances of having foot problems.

• Claw foot (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Clubfoot (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Common peroneal nerve dysfunction (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Extremity x-ray (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Flat feet (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Foot pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Foot sprain – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Foot, leg, and ankle swelling (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hand or foot spasms (Medical Encyclopedia)
• High arch (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Metatarsal fracture (acute) – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Metatarsal stress fractures – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Metatarsus adductus (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Morton neuroma (Medical Encyclopedia)