Dr. Hive: Please help with Severs disease and tendinitis

[trulycrabby]

DS12 plays club soccer and has developed Severs disease and achilles tendinitis. One orthopedist says it's Severs; another one says its achilles tendonitis.

 

Taping hasn't helped; neither have gel heel cups; they just move around in his shoe and cause discomfort. He was prescribed a tendonitis strap that goes around his ankle and heel, and he says it makes it hurt worse.

 

His calves and hamstrings are very tight, and don't seem to want to loosen up even with stretching, deep tissue work, Epsom salt soaks, even Graston technnique soft tissue mobilization.

 

Any other ideas on how to treat this injury? Infrared? Ultrasound? Chiropractic? Acupuncture? We are willing to try anything and everything at this point.

[Carrie12345]

Ds, around 11 or 12, was dx'ed with Severs. He was on crutches for a week or two, and then he was mostly fine.  It acted up once or twice more, but that was it.  He continued with baseball after each rest period.

[Loowit]

Both my boys have had it and it just took time and rest.  My older DS didn't really need anything other than time and rest.  Youngest had problems at the beginning of the soccer season last fall and missed most of the season.  He had other problems also so he was referred to a foot doctor.  He has fallen arches when he walks making him very flat footed and his feet turn in and also a tight Achilles tendon.  They prescribed shoe inserts for him and they were custom made.  He hates them though, so trying to get him to use them has been a challenge.

[trulycrabby]

Thanks! Time and rest, and I will just have to relax. It's hard to do with a 12 year old boy, but we will manage. :o

[SebastianCat]

My DS had Severs when he was 11 or 12. Time and rest was what healed it here, too. The podiatrist had him ice and elevate his foot several times per day, take ibuprofen, strict "no activity other than minimal walking" for 3 weeks, and "no bare feet unless you're showering."

 

I know how hard it is with a boy this age. DS had been playing soccer at the time, missed most of the season, and had to stop running, which he had been doing to clear his head during school. It was really, really difficult.

 

The podiatrist told us that he could have a relapse anytime he had a big growth spurt, but it would never happen once his feet stopped growing. He started using insoles (he likes Superfeet Blue) for extra support, and we still make him wear flip flops around the house rather than going barefoot. He just turned 14, and hasn't had a relapse since the original episode. He's now running 4-5 times per week, runs 5Ks, and will run cross country at our local high school in the fall.

[trulycrabby]

Thanks, SebastianCat! No one has told him not to go barefoot. He is barefoot all the time unless we go somewhere, which will change immediately.

 

I also ordered the superfeet blue liners because they are recommended for flat feet (boy, there are a lot of colours).

Edited May 26, 2016 by trulycrabby

[plansrme]

The heel cups come with a version that can be worn barefoot, so if they work when they're in place, the barefoot version might work even with shoes.  Girl gymnasts wear them when they are nine.  Also, for anything inflammatory, my athletes swear by Bromelain; it saved both my gymnast's and my swimmers careers.  The protocol they follow is 3,000 mg, 3 times a day on an empty stomach (2 hours after and 30 minutes before a meal).  Good Nutrition stores (the ones with the apple in the logo) carry it in 1500 mg tablets.