Bow Legged

Many people are looking for a way to fix their bow legs without a surgery. I was looking for such information many times in the past as well. What I hoped to find was that there were exercises to fix bow legs that will help me control the shape of my bow legs.

After a lot of research I came to the conclusion that there aren’t any exercises to fix bow legs 🙁

My Doctor (Orthopedist) told me that the shape of the bow legs (in my case at least) can only be fixed by a surgery.  My Pilates instructor told me that exercise won’t change the shape of my bow legs, but it can help me change my posture, so that my bow legs would look better. Both recommended me to try Pilates.

If exercise cannot help to fix bow legs, at least it can help reshape your body and posture. I started Pilates a couple of months ago, and I really feel better as a result.

Here is a list of eBooks and Videos that are supposed to help make your lower body/legs look better (I never tried them):

1. Leg Exercises/Lower Body Workouts for Women
2. Fitness Ebooks

If you have bow legs, and especially if you are a women, you probably went many times to the shoe stores looking for the perfect boots that will make your legs look straight and pretty when you wear short skirts…but when you finally find a pair of boots you like and you try them on, you realize that they are so tight on the leg that your bow legs outline is shown…! I know this happened to me so many times that at one stage I thought about giving up on boots 🙁

Although searching for the shoes is hard, there are many boots, sandals and shoes that will look good on curved bow legs!

Here is what I think:

What NOT to wear:

• Shoes/Boots that are tight and emphasis the bow legs outline
• Sandals with high straps – in many cases it “cuts” your bow legs in the middle, making it look shorter and curved.

What to Wear:

• High Heels Sandals – it can make your legs look longer and less bowed.
• Loose Boots – make sure that they are loose on top, and are not tight
• Any shoe that is not high on the leg (i.e. not a boot and not with high straps) with heels might look good.
• Special Accessories for Bow Legs – Insoles, Bow legs correctors

Where to get such shoes?

Many stores have fashionable shoes that will look good on bow legs; you just need to remember the guidelines of what to wear and what not.

I searched for pictures of before and after the bow legs correction surgery. I found this websites very informative: http://www.doctorveklich.com/patients.htm.
I must say that these pictures (and information from the site) makes me really consider the bow legs surgery option… It doesn’t look too painful, and seems like the results are good too.

I’m usually talking about adults with bow legs, but today I’ve decided to write about children with bow legs. I think that if parents would have paid more attention to their child’s bow legs, in many cases this deformity could have been treated.

I’ve searched the web looking for information regarding bow legs. It seems that all (or almost all) children are born with bow legs (Genu Varum), and as they grow the legs get straiten (when the child is about 3 years old.)

In some cases the bow legs shape persists. A possible cause is if the child is sick or suffers from a condition that makes the bones soft and therefore the legs stay bowed, such as rickets (but since I’m not a doctor, I really recommend going to the doctor to check this.)

When I five years old I walked with my feet pointing in. My parents took me to the Doctor (orthopedist) who gave me shoes that were connected by an iron brace to wear at night. He thought it was too late to fix the shape of the legs, but this could change the way I stand. I think that overall this helped my posture, as I no longer stand with my feet pointing in.
I’ve been told that the solution to “permanent” bow legs for kids back when I was a child was to put a cast on the child’s legs to straiten them. I don’t know if today they are using the same methods, or if it works.

Bow legs might be very frustrating when you are older and start noticing them, so if this could be treated in small children, why not give it a try?

After searching for information on the web regarding adults’ o legs treatment, these are the conclusions I came up with:

Usually a treatment is not required for adults with o legs. In severe cases a surgery is the solution.

Exercises can help make the legs look better (like it helps anyone else without this problem), but they won’t change the bow shape and they won’t “fix” the o legs.

There are o legs supporters/o legs bands that are claimed to help this situation, but I never checked these products and never seen any reviews on them (I’ll update this post with a link once I find where to get them.)

There are also High-Sandals for Bowlegs.

I recommend that you consult your doctor if you want to find the most reliable information and the best treatment for you.

I’ve been searching for a long time for a place that sells shoes for bow legs, and today I finally found a website that sells High-Sandals for Bowlegs.

I cannot recommend as I haven’t tried them myself, but if you bought it or going to please leave a comment.

I found this on YouTube today, this is an interview with someone who had the bow legs correction surgery with “Ilizarov-Veklich” apparatus. I think that this is a very helpful video for anyone who is interested in the surgery.
He said in the interview that he did it for cosmetic reasons, and I can really relate to that.

Part 1:

Part 2:

I must say that the “Ilizarov-Veklich” apparatus looks to me less frightening than the regular “Ilizarov” apparatus I read about…

I’d like to hear what you thought about this, so please leave comments 🙂

– Videos were taken from http://www.youtube.com/

If you have o-legs/bow legs, you’re probably not comfortable wearing short pants or skirts, especially if you are a woman. The most annoying thing is that wearing short skirts makes you feel uncomfortable because you are afraid that everyone would notice your legs…even in gym class you wear long pants because you think it looks better…Well, there are solutions for this when it comes to what you wear (!!!), and here is my advice:

No: Pants that end just above your knees. These pants might emphasize the shape of your legs, and this is exactly what you want to avoid!

Yes:  Pants that will allow you to show your legs and no one will notice the o shape.

• Wearing pants that end just bellow you knee (3/4 pants and tights)
• Long pants that are NOT tight
• Very short pants

Things you can wear:

I was looking for information on bow legs surgery and found this interesting video on YouTube.
It shows a person who had a bow legs correction surgery and according to the title, walks just before Ilizarov-Veklich apparatus removal.
I wonder what it looks like after the removal, if it hurts or if there are scars on the legs.

– Video was taken from http://www.youtube.com/