Sever's Disease

My daughter was a pretty serious gymnast and had a horrible case of Sever's. I don't think you explained it very well. It's pain at the spot of the growth plate. That is also where the achilles tendon attaches to that bone. She fought it from about 10-12 years old.

It's a condition where you manage the pain. They totally can continue to do their sport while suffering from this.

1. Ice ice, baby. Ice multiple times per day. Freezing water in dixie cups and tearing the sides off is good. They can hold the ice by the paper part and rub it onto their heel.

2. Never ever go barefoot. I mean NEVER!!! Every single little pounding on their heel compounds it and contributes to the pain. Wear tennis shoes with padding. If they are wearing any kind of sandal, it needs padding. It's not about the support, but about taking pressure off that spot on the heel.

3. Do not wear any flat shoes. The shoes need to have a slightly elevated heel. Nothing with a zero or really lot heel drop. If you don't know what a heel drop look in the specifications section about various tennis shoes. It's listed. The higher the better. A small wedge takes the pressure off a little. I know crocs are popular with the kids, but they'd be pretty bad for this. So would Birkenstocks. They are hard and flat.

4. Assuming your kid is an athlete. Part of the reason they end up with this is they have strongly developed muscles. Most of the time, the calf muscle isn't as strong and as they grow, the calf muscle relaxes a little, the achilles tendon stretches a little, and the pull on the bone isn't that hard. With Sever's, the calf is strong and pulls hard against the achilles, causing the pain at the insertion point. Therefore, do achilles stretches every day, several times a day if possible. By stretching the tendon, you're taking pressure off that point.

5. NSAIDs. Advil when it's bad. Try not to let them pop it too often. We had a few gymnasts that took it too often and ended up with some stomach issues.

All these things combined can provide a little relief. Not doing extra running/jumping type stuff outside of their sport helps too. Stay off it when possible.

Go see a physical therapist.

I think the boot think is sort of effective. Yeah, it makes it feel better for the time being, but it most likely comes back quickly as soon as they start doing anything.

We were absolutely religious about all the things. She had it in the summer and was training 26-28 hours a week, 5-6 days a week. It wasn't the competitive season, so she didn't do all her tumbling passes on the same day as vault...both pounding events.

What sport does he play? It's much easier to deal with it in the off season even though they still practice.

Honestly, although it's technically overuse, the biggest thing that helps is time and getting through that growth spurt.

He developed the pain wearing cleats that were too small during fall baseball (pains only in one foot). One practice two weeks ago he came home complaining his heel was hurting. Thankfully baseball is done until March next year, but school basketball tryouts were last week. The school games don't start until January, so we have two months to try and rest but we are basically starting basketball season now.
He claims he feels a sting when his heel touches down. We got x-rays and nothing was found. I'm putting the boot on him because I need 3 weeks of rest but also a preventive measure. Slowing down a very active 12-year-old boy is a challenge by itself.

My son had it bad. Brought him to a chiropractor that deals with a lot of athletes. Basically found that his calves were extremely tight. Massaged them out and showed us how to do it. Made a world of difference.

I had this when I was 10. Never got it diagnosed as a disease but they said growth plate issues. I played through it but it would shoot pain up the Achilles which sucked. It eventually just went away but I ran with a slight limp for a few years.