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Heel Pain in Children

Children suffer from a variety of injuries. Broken bones and other accident related injuries are common among children. However, your children are at risk for other injuries including heel pain. Many conditions could be the cause of heel pain in your children including plantar fasciitis. Though, Sever’s Disease is often the reason your child is experiencing heel pain.

Sever’s Disease

Sever’s Disease in children occurs when the growth plate on the back of the heel becomes inflamed. When this occurs muscles and tendons in the child’s body become tight. In addition, the heel area is less flexible. Activities that put pressure on the feet, will add to the pressure at the back of the heel. This can injure the heel and result in tiny micro fractures that cause pain. These micro fractures usually occur where the Achilles tendon inserts on the heel bone.

Risk

Since the heel pain that some children experience can be painful, it is important to understand who is at risk. When your child hits early puberty, the chances of developing this condition increase because they enter a new growth spurt. Additionally, the disease is most common among physically active girls between ages 8 to 10 and physically active boys between ages 10 to 12. Also, soccer players often suffer from this problem.

Symptoms

Children that have Sever’s Disease will most likely complain of heel pain in one or both heels. It is more common to suffer with the problem in one foot than two. The heel pain will increase when your child runs or jumps. Frequently children will tiptoe to avoid heel pain.

Treatment

Treating heel pain in children is important. Decreasing activity and icing the heels will effectively treat the heel pain. In addition, it may be helpful to supplement these activities with foot inserts to support your child’s feet.

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