My 17 yr old daughter was recently diagnosed with flatfeet. The podiatrist actually said that hers is a more severe case. Yesterday we got the custom inserts from the podiatrist, which she will use a little at a time, gradually increasing the time she uses them. Anyway, I know this is a treatment and not a cure and it is possible that she may need surgery.
Anyone with personal experience with this?

Also, if we would have caught this a few years ago, would that have made a difference? I knew that my daughter kind of walked with her feet going outward, but I really had no idea that she had flatfeet since she never complained of any kind of pain.

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here is an article from the Mayo Clinic on flat feet - I know a few people who have been diagnosed as having flat feet but no one had to have surgery since they were not in any pain...

flat foot - Bing Health

Thanks for the article. Indicates surgery required for those experiencing extreme pain, which I know my daughter is not experiencing. Just some discomfort and sometimes fatigue.

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My son was diagnosed as a small child. He has been wearing Superfeet since he was about 4 years old. Dr said if he didn't wear them he could wind up having ankle or back problems when he was older. When his feet stop growing (soon, I hope-he's a 12 now!) we will get customs made for him. Our insurance doesn't cover them and they are too expensive to get every year.

My feet have always been fairly flat, which generally isn't a problem. I did have a fair bit of heel pain from plantar fasciitis at one point, but night splints, and stretching seem to have fixed that. Ironically enough, that seemed to show up when I was doing less walking. When I walked everywhere and wore hiking boots most places, I had no problems. I find I do better when I make an effort to sort of roll my foot through each step, so the arch stretches, rather than just getting plunked flat on the ground.

A common and usually painless condition, flatfeet may occur when the arches don't develop during childhood. In other cases, flatfeet may be caused by an injury or from the simple wear-and-tear stresses of age.

One other thing I wanted feedback on is this. The podiatrist wants to keep seeing my daughter, even after we picked up our inserts last week. He wants to see her in a month to see if they are working. I guess my question is it standard procedure for a podiatrist to keep seeing the patient? I wish it were a follow-up visit, but every time we see him, it cost us $40 copay. I will not be surprised if he recommends surgery at some point.

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

I would be very cautious about surgery. Get more opinions and not from any of his friends. If you don't want to do a follow up then don't do it. See if the inserts help and if they don't you might want to go back and see if there are any adjustments that can be made. My first pair felt like I was walking with half of a golf ball under my instep. Turns out I just needed a few weeks to acclimate. Second pair, several years later were too wide and had to be redone.