borrowed from kidshealth.org
If your child develops heel pain you’ll probably hear the term sever’s disease thrown around as something to look into. The most important things to remember are 1) that it is not a disease and 2) it is temporary. For more information on what it is and what causes it click here to go to kidshealth.org for an explanation. So now you know what it is but what can be done to treat it? You might read or hear that nothing can be done except to rest and to some extent that is true. Hopefully you’ve also heard that with Sever’s disease you won’t do any damage to your body by playing through the pain. You can’t make your body finish growing so that Sever’s goes away but you can manage the pain and in most cases you can keep playing. Each individual is different and what works for one person may not be as effective for the next but after trying many ideas we have Sever’s disease under control. The following is not medical advice.
Things to try for managing pain from Sever’s disease:
1. Compression socks: put them on after practice to keep the legs warm and blood flowing. We got these SmartWool compression socks from REI.
2. KT Tape or Rock Tape. This helped get through practices and games with a little less pain when Sever’s was at its worst. As one Physical Therapist said, “if the kid thinks it helps, it helps.”
3. Ice: after practices and games to reduce the inflammation. An ice gel pack is good but if you really want to see a kid squirm try icing their legs in a bucket! We ice about 10 minutes with the gel pack. For the bucket we did 3 sets of 2 minutes on, 1 minute off. Another unique option that is keeping paper cups filled with water in your freezer. Peel the top of the cup away and massage the ice-cup over the area allowing the ice to melt away.
4. Gel insoles: the ground is hard here in Colorado and the impact of a cleat hitting that ground is tough on a kid with Sever’s. Buy the lowest profile insole you can find since its going in a cleat and typically a women’s size will work best for kids. We found these to work well and are in the cleat today. It may be uncomfortable at first and you may actually have to go up half a size. We tried Superfeet insoles and while a good product for other scenarios they did not help with Sever’s as there just isn’t enough cushion to reduce the impact.
5. Stretch/massage daily. Keep reading; this is not a typical stretch. Unfortunately for us the heel pain was a precursor to a sharp achilles pain and knots in the calves. This technique however, has eliminated the achilles pain completely. For maintenance and prevention of Sever’s getting worse this has been by far the most effective of everything we’ve tried. You’ll have your child lay on their stomach and point the toe. Apply relatively deep pressure on a spot and have the child lengthen the muscle by bringing the toe up towards the shin (note: this should hurt!). Repeat this from just above the Achilles through the calf. Be sure the toe is pointed, then apply the pressure, and then the toe move towards the shin each time. You want to muscle to work through the pressure from a contracted to elongated position. We use a cream called NOW Glucosamine, MSM and Arnica. From Wikipedia: Arnica montana has been used medicinally for centuries. Arnica is used in liniment and ointment preparations used for strains, sprains, and bruises. Commercial Arnica preparations are frequently used by professional athletes.
6. Shoes: If your child plays on turf, then buy turf shoes. If your child plays on artificial grass a fair amount, then invest in AG cleats. These make a huge difference! Lower profile + more studs = less impact on the body
7. Heel Cups: these go into the school sneakers. A women’s size will likely work best for kids.
8. And finally a little Advil before games.
Good luck!
Bownet Soccer Goals are great portable goals for coaches and kids who want to play as much as they can. They are a great option for playing anytime, anywhere. The goals come in different sizes, fold down easily and come with a travel bag for transportation to practice or just the local park for pickup soccer. They are durable and the pieces don’t come apart when a ball hits the frame. We like that we can take it anywhere, it fits well in our backyard and it doesn’t hurt if you accidentally dive into the posts. If you want to work on shooting and finishing you have to get one of these! Our Bownet soccer goal is 3 years old and has spent a lot of time in our backyard even during rain and snow. You may purchase your own Bow Net goal at 
