Mozelle Gollhofer

An uncomplicated source for your the feet.

Living With Severs Disease

Overview

Sever's disease is the most common cause of heel pain in the growing child. It is due to overuse and repetitive stress of the Achilles tendon where it attaches to the heel bone.

Causes

The pain of Severs usually occurs because of inflammation and micro-trauma to the growth plate of the heel bone. This can be caused by a sudden increase in activity, running on very hard surfaces, a growth spurt, tight muscles or feet that roll in.

Symptoms

If your child has any of the following symptoms, call your pediatrician for an evaluation. Heel pain that begins after starting a new sports season or a new sport. Walking with a limp or on tiptoes. Pain that increases with running or jumping. Heel tendon that feels tight. Pain when you squeeze the child's heel near the back. Pain in one or both heels.

Diagnosis

Sever?s disease can be diagnosed based on the symptoms your child has. Your child?s doctor will conduct a physical examination by squeezing different parts of your child?s foot to see if they cause any pain. An X-ray may be used to rule out other problems, such as a broken bone or fracture.

Non Surgical Treatment

Decreasing or stopping sport is necessary until the pain reduces. Let pain be your guide, as it decreases you can slowly return to all activities. To help settle inflammation use an ice pack or rub an ice cube over the

painful area for 5 minutes daily whilst pain persists. Wearing supportive trainers during the day can help to soften the impact of walking on the heel. Encourage a normal pattern of walking. Complete the stretches below every day and before and after activity until your symptoms settle.

Exercise

Exercises that help to stretch the calf muscles and hamstrings are effective at treating Sever's disease. An exercise known as foot curling, in which the foot is pointed away from the body, then curled toward the body in order to help stretch the muscles, has also proven to be very effective at treating Sever's disease. The curling exercise should be done in sets of 10 or 20 repetitions, and repeated several times throughout the day.