Will my child always have to wear orthotics once he starts?

If orthotics are used early enough in the development of the bones of the foot, the support the orthotics provide will allow the bones of the foot and ankle to grow straighter and stronger and in many cases the orthotics won't be needed after puberty when the bones and their growth plates fully ossify or become solid bone.  As a general rule, in older children after puberty, bone structure and position becomes permanent and therefore more difficult to change or manipulate with orthotics.  But with all that being said, if your child or young adult begins to experience once again any of the symptoms or discomforts that they had previous to wearing their orthotics after they stop wearing them, they should most definitely continue wearing them, much in the same way that many people continue to need eye glasses to correct their vision.  This is to say that, unless the mechanics or instability can be permanently "fixed" or addressed as with surgery, if the child's mechanics do not correct to any great degree as they grow, the aid offered by the orthotics may be something carried forward through childhood and into adulthood