Sever's Disease: Calcaneal Apophysitis
Adolescent heel pain after sports or exercise
Your child just get done playing soccer, basketball or done a huge dance routine and they can't stop complaining about their heel hurting. They are not making this up, especially if they are between the ages of 11 and 14. As we grow our growth plate on the heel bone can cause intense pain after activity. Especially activity that requires jumping, running or any sport that your child is using their foot!
This is usually easily diagnosed in your podiatrist office.
It is best to get into the office and get an X-ray. The X-ray serves two purposes:
- To make sure there is no fracture present.
- Gives you piece of mind as a parent that your child is doing no further harm.
How we treat Sever's Disease
This ill named foot ailment makes a parent think this is a long lasting problem for their child due to the "disease" in the name. It's not! It is true that from the ages of around 10 to 14 your son or daughter may have a couple of bouts with Sever's but it is usually managed simply.
Anti-inflammatories may be prescribed to help decrease the pain and inflammation to the growth plate. A period of rest is usually recommended, as well as icing the heel. In extreme cases (meaning not getting better with these simple things) we may put your child in a Cam walking boot to give the heel even more rest.
Many kids continue to play their sport but are making sure they ice right after activity. Within 2-4 weeks the child is usually at or close to 100%.