I am starting to see more kids again this year with classic sore feet and arches. It is often a condition called “Sever’s Disease” which sounds daunting but is really just an inflammation of the growth plate at the back of the heel where the achilles tendon inserts into the heel bone. It is often a boy 4x more than girls, usually with rolled-in sore feet and low arches as well as tight muscles in the back of the leg.
The good news is that it is easily treated with ICE after school, training and sports~~ stretching regime BEFORE school training and sport and again before bed. This coupled with the right shoe and orthotic insert can burn this condition out quite rapidly. Without treatment, it can drag on for a few years. Come and see us today for an assessement! 1300467837.
Sourced from www.kidshealth.org
About Sever’s Disease
Sever’s disease, also called calcaneal apophysitis, is a painful bone disorder that results from inflammation (swelling) of the growth plate in the heel. A growth plate, also called an epiphyseal plate, is an area at the end of a developing bone where cartilage cells change over time into bone cells. As this occurs, the growth plates expand and unite, which is how bones grow.
Sever’s disease is a common cause of sore feet in growing kids, especially those who are physically active. It usually occurs during the growth spurt of adolescence, the approximately 2-year period in early puberty when kids grow most rapidly. This growth spurt can begin any time between the ages of 8 and 13 for girls and 10 and 15 for boys. Sever’s disease rarely occurs in older teens because the back of the heel usually finishes growing by the age of 15, when the growth plate hardens and the growing bones fuse together into mature bone.
Sever’s disease is similar to Osgood-Schlatter disease, a condition that affects the bones in the knees.