10 Symptoms and Treatments for Sever's Disease

Sever's disease or calcaneal apophysitis causes pain in the heel for pre-adolescent and early adolescent children. Because the child's heel is not yet fully developed, inflammation can occur in those who are especially active. Though the symptoms can be quite painful and medical attention may be required, in most cases, Sever's disease does not cause lasting damage and passes quickly.

1. Who is most at risk?

If you look at a typical Sever's disease patient profile, you find a boy aged between eight and fourteen who loves playing football or some other sport that requires a great deal of footwork. Girls are less likely to get this disease. Kids that do a lot of running and jumping regularly put their heels under intense pressures. Since their bodies are still developing, all of this wear and tear might lead to an inflammation of the part of the heel bone that needs to grow. Doctors call this area of the heel the growth plate.