Child's Painful Heels

Do your child’s heels hurt? Do they feel so much pain that they don’t want to walk or run? A common pediatric athlete complication is calcaneal apophysitis. This is just fancy jargon for irritation of the growth plate of the heel. Children will have this happen to them when they are about 8-12 years of age or a little older if their growth plate closes slowly. It is as a result of irritation to the growth plate and unfortunately there is not much that can be done.

The classic picture is a young person that has not had any trauma, has not fallen down or banged their heel against anything, but is an active kid. They usually love to play outside and may be competitive in sports or just play pick-up games with their friends. All of a sudden, your child will start to rub their heels and complain that their heels hurt and say that they don’t want to play the sports they once loved. They aren’t just trying to get out of gym class, because these are kids that would rather be playing, but they are just in too much pain.

So, what can we do for them? First off, we can prescribe them a pain killer that will help both with the pain as well as the inflammation and swelling in the area. We can get them some orthotic inserts for their shoes to hold them in a more stable position that will help to reduce some of the shock and repetitive trauma to the area. Finally, your child will need to rest. Eventually, they will outgrow this problem, but it will take time, and that is the most frustrating part.

Now, it sounds like you could just have your kid resting on the couch if they have these symptoms and will all go away. That is true, if it is real calcaneal apophysitis. It is important to bring your child in for x-rays and evaluation, because sometimes children won’t remember trauma or getting hurt and it could turn out to be a fracture or injury to a ligament or tendon.  It’s always better to play it safe with kids, because you don’t want an injury that affects them for life.

So, if you or someone you know has a child whose heels are in a lot of pain, you should seek help from your podiatrist. If you live in the Bradford or Burlington, Massachusetts area, Dr. Wachtel would be more than happy to see you and help treat your child’s heel pain. We are also happy to announce our Methuen and North Andover offices located at 451 Andover St. Suite 300, North Andover MA 01845 and 87 Jackson St, Methuen, MA 01835.