pain in foot/ankle, possible toe-walking issue?

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our 5 yo autie has been complaining since last fall of pain in his right foot and ankle. its been occasional but is definitely getting to be more often. he is usually hyposensitive to pain, so for him to be talking about it, even limping sometimes, is very unusual. we had xrays done but havent heard back from the doc yet on whether anything turned up.

i cant figure out what it could be caused by, as he hasnt had any injuries. my first thought was growing pains, but weve never dealt with those before. my second thought is that he is a toe walker still, he "prances" on his toes a lot, and i wonder if that could be causing problems with his tendons/bones/muscles in his foot and ankle. ive also considered how he often sits on his knees with his feet under his bum and literally turned at 90 degrees to his legs, so his feet are stacked on top of each other sideways, like =.

has anyone had an issue like this crop up?

Make sure he or she is getting enough vitamin D, animal protein, and potassium for proper bone and connective tissue development.

Further to psychohist's suggestion, Magnesium helps my son with muscular pain/issues. It also works quite well as a calming supplement.

My son wears SMO's, a type of plastic orthopedic brace that you can wear inside your shoes. He was born with bilateral clubfoot(common in Down Synd), but even after his castings and surgery on the tendons in his ankles, his Phys. therapist was still noting no discernible heel-strike when he walked. I wonder if it has something to do with the clubfoot or if he is in fact toe-walking. Whatever the case, as soon as we had him fitted for SMO's the toe-walking stopped.

The skate shoes are a good idea too. I have a pair, and they basically have no arch in them, but still quite comfortable.

Did you guys went to a Podiatrist for a second opinion as they are the doctor that specializes on foot.

http://www.westsidepodiatry.ca

My daughter toe walks maybe 25% of the time (whenever she doesn't have shoes on, so whenever she walks at home) and frequently sits the same way and does not have that complaint. She is 9.5 Just sharing so you don't prematurely chalk it up to that. Also, both kids have had growing pains and neither have said it is in the foot or ankle.