Pediatric Heel Pain (Sever's Disease)
Pediatric heel pain is most commonly caused by a condition called Sever's Disease. Sever's disease develops in active children and teens from overstress of the growth plate of the heel bone. Another name for Sever's Disease is Calcaneal Apophysitis, which means "inflammation of the heel bone growth plate".
Signs and symptoms include pain with activity that improves with rest, inflammation of the heel, and limping/walking on the toes.
Risk Factors
Age - Children and teens between the ages of 9-14
Sports - Athletic children participating in sports with running, jumping and hard cutting, like soccer, basketball and gymnastics.
Poor Footwear - Unstructured footwear can put excessive stress on the growth plates, making Sever's Disease more likely to develop.
Treatment
Sever's disease can be managed successfully by avoiding the activities that cause pain. With time, the child will get a sense of what activities they can participate in and for how long.
Long Term
The good news about Sever's disease is it resolves completely once the growth plates close around the age of 14-15, and will not recur again.
Signs and symptoms include pain with activity that improves with rest, inflammation of the heel, and limping/walking on the toes.
Risk Factors
Age - Children and teens between the ages of 9-14
Sports - Athletic children participating in sports with running, jumping and hard cutting, like soccer, basketball and gymnastics.
Poor Footwear - Unstructured footwear can put excessive stress on the growth plates, making Sever's Disease more likely to develop.
Treatment
Sever's disease can be managed successfully by avoiding the activities that cause pain. With time, the child will get a sense of what activities they can participate in and for how long.
- Rest - When pain develops, the activity causing the pain should be stopped until pain resolves
- Medication - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication that is safe for children, like Ibuprofen can be used to help with pain.
- Custom Orthotics - To control foot biomechanics can minimize stress to the heel
- Structured Cushioned Footwear - To minimize stress to the heel
- Physiotherapy - To stretch tight muscles which may stress the heel
Long Term
The good news about Sever's disease is it resolves completely once the growth plates close around the age of 14-15, and will not recur again.