Overview
During a growth spurt, your child?s heel bone grows faster than the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in her leg. In fact, the heel is one of your child?s first body parts to reach full adult size. When the muscles and tendons can?t grow fast enough to keep up, they are stretched too tight. If your child is very active, especially if she plays a sport that involves a lot of running and jumping on hard surfaces (such as soccer, basketball, or gymnastics), it can put extra strain on her already overstretched tendons. This leads to swelling and pain at the point where the tendons attach to the growing part of her heel.
Causes
The cause of Sever's Disease is not entirely clear but it is most likely due to repeated minor trauma that occurs during high-impact activities that involve running and jumping such as soccer, basketball, and gymnastics. It may also occur when an active child regularly wears shoes with poor heel padding, shock absorbency, or poor arch support. Some additional contributing factors are excessive pronation, an overly tight calf muscle, and other flaws in the biomechanics of a child's walking stride. Children who are overweight are also at greater risk of developing Sever's Disease.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of Sever?s involves pain or tenderness in one or both heels. This pain usually occurs at the back of the heel, but can also extend to the sides and bottom of the heel. A child with Sever?s may also have these common problems. Heel pain with limping, especially after running. Difficulty walking. Discomfort or stiffness in the feet upon awaking. Swelling and redness in the heel. Symptoms are usually worse during or after activity and get better with rest.
Diagnosis
Sever disease is most often diagnosed clinically, and radiographic evaluation is believed to be unnecessary by many physicians, but if a diagnosis of calcaneal apophysitis is made without obtaining radiographs, a lesion requiring more aggressive treatment could be missed. Foot radiographs are usually normal and the radiologic identification of calcaneal apophysitis without the absence of clinical information was not reliable.
Non Surgical Treatment
Consulting with a physiotherapist to confirm the diagnosis is important. Physiotherapist?s will advise on a management plan, usually consisting of activity modification (a reduction in playing and training) and addressing the contributing factors as outlined above. Treatment may include relative rest/modified rest or cessation of sports, biomechanical correction, the use of heel wedges, soft tissue massage, joint mobilisation, education, icing, taping, exercises addressing flexibility, strength or balance issues, footwear assessment and advice, a gradual return to activity program.
Recovery
With proper care, your child should feel better within 2 weeks to 2 months. Your child can start playing sports again only when the heel pain is gone. Your doctor will let you know when physical activity is safe.
During a growth spurt, your child?s heel bone grows faster than the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in her leg. In fact, the heel is one of your child?s first body parts to reach full adult size. When the muscles and tendons can?t grow fast enough to keep up, they are stretched too tight. If your child is very active, especially if she plays a sport that involves a lot of running and jumping on hard surfaces (such as soccer, basketball, or gymnastics), it can put extra strain on her already overstretched tendons. This leads to swelling and pain at the point where the tendons attach to the growing part of her heel.
Causes
The cause of Sever's Disease is not entirely clear but it is most likely due to repeated minor trauma that occurs during high-impact activities that involve running and jumping such as soccer, basketball, and gymnastics. It may also occur when an active child regularly wears shoes with poor heel padding, shock absorbency, or poor arch support. Some additional contributing factors are excessive pronation, an overly tight calf muscle, and other flaws in the biomechanics of a child's walking stride. Children who are overweight are also at greater risk of developing Sever's Disease.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of Sever?s involves pain or tenderness in one or both heels. This pain usually occurs at the back of the heel, but can also extend to the sides and bottom of the heel. A child with Sever?s may also have these common problems. Heel pain with limping, especially after running. Difficulty walking. Discomfort or stiffness in the feet upon awaking. Swelling and redness in the heel. Symptoms are usually worse during or after activity and get better with rest.
Diagnosis
Sever disease is most often diagnosed clinically, and radiographic evaluation is believed to be unnecessary by many physicians, but if a diagnosis of calcaneal apophysitis is made without obtaining radiographs, a lesion requiring more aggressive treatment could be missed. Foot radiographs are usually normal and the radiologic identification of calcaneal apophysitis without the absence of clinical information was not reliable.
Non Surgical Treatment
Consulting with a physiotherapist to confirm the diagnosis is important. Physiotherapist?s will advise on a management plan, usually consisting of activity modification (a reduction in playing and training) and addressing the contributing factors as outlined above. Treatment may include relative rest/modified rest or cessation of sports, biomechanical correction, the use of heel wedges, soft tissue massage, joint mobilisation, education, icing, taping, exercises addressing flexibility, strength or balance issues, footwear assessment and advice, a gradual return to activity program.
Recovery
With proper care, your child should feel better within 2 weeks to 2 months. Your child can start playing sports again only when the heel pain is gone. Your doctor will let you know when physical activity is safe.