Heel Pain in Children
Pain in the heel region is very common in growing and active children. It usually develops as a result of the growth plate in this region becoming irritated. This can cause pain during and/or after footy which usually resolves by the next morning. In more severe cases, the pain may cause a child to limp. One or both feet may be affected. Heel pain is common at this time of the year as children are usually more active due to the crossover of sports seasons.
The good news is that the pain will resolve when the growth plate fuses to the heel bone. The bad news is that this can take up to a couple of years, which means you will need to help your child to manage their symptoms between now and then. In most cases, children don’t need to give up playing footy. But it’s important to modify their activities to get the pain under control.
3 Pain Relief Tips
1. Prioritise the activities that your child enjoys the most. If they love footy, make sure they’re feeling as good as possible for footy training and games. If they don’t enjoy basketball as much, they could do less running at basketball training until the pain settles down.
2. Apply an ice pack to the painful area for 10 minutes after footy. This should help to reduce the severity of the pain. Make sure you cover the ice pack with a thin cloth or paper towel.
3. Encourage your child to wear their most comfortable shoes as much as possible (probably their runners). You should also consider buying your child new runners if their current pair are looking a little worse for wear.
If the pain doesn’t settle down within a couple of weeks, call 9481 0639 or go to
www.fairfieldpodiatry.com.au to book an appointment with one of our experienced podiatrists. There are many ways we can help your child get back to what they love doing pain-free.
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