WAG Sever's Disease :(

[Amber]

I think we are looking at Sever's for our DD, 7. The coaches say its relatively common. She has been complaining of heel pain for the last two weeks. No swelling or redness. It is exactly where the websites point to in describing Sever's-where the Achilles tendon attaches at the heel. We are waiting to hear from the Ortho office for an appointment. So far, we are:
-giving Advil and icing;
-sneakers on as much as possible, no flip flops
-ordered the extra small Tuli's heel cups
-ordered Xbrace
-ordered Oscon pills

I HATE seeing her in pain!!!!! Thinking that this could last for 10 years makes me sick

Is there any specific stretches, or advice, parents out there have for helping this condition? It did not come from an injury, its just been slowly sneaking up...

So sad for her, that her favorite thing now has an obstacle ...

 

[GymBeeMom]

My 8 year old has dealt with severs twice and I am sure it will rear its ugly head again. The cheetah heel cup really helps but it passes fast if her coaches support a modified workout. Both times my daughter had the pain, we put on tumble track instead of the real floor and backed off vault for a week or two. It should pass quickly or she backs off but can linger if she doesn't rest it. The first time was bad enough that the cheetah didn't help but the second time it was a life saver. With modified workouts, it lasts about 2 weeks both times. Follow doctors orders and don't be afraid to slow down at gym, it seems to help our girls to stop the pounding when it acts up. Sorry she's dealing with it. But expect it to come with her growth spurts...

I think we are looking at Sever's for our DD, 7. The coaches say its relatively common. She has been complaining of heel pain for the last two weeks. No swelling or redness. It is exactly where the websites point to in describing Sever's-where the Achilles tendon attaches at the heel. We are waiting to hear from the Ortho office for an appointment. So far, we are:
-giving Advil and icing;
-sneakers on as much as possible, no flip flops
-ordered the extra small Tuli's heel cups
-ordered Xbrace
-ordered Oscon pills

I HATE seeing her in pain!!!!! Thinking that this could last for 10 years makes me sick

Is there any specific stretches, or advice, parents out there have for helping this condition? It did not come from an injury, its just been slowly sneaking up...

So sad for her, that her favorite thing now has an obstacle ...

 

[Amber]

Thanks for the advice...we will talk to the coach about a modified workout. I ordered the heel cups but don't know much about them... can they do everything in them? I thought overuse injuries happened in the teens, not to a 7 year old!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

This is extremely informative, Severs Disease heel pain.wmv - YouTube Seven is young for severs, but not unheard of. I have found that my younger athletes tend to heal quicker than the older ones if they follow their treatment plan and do all the stretching and strengthening homework given by the doctor/physio/ortho/ etc.

 

[GymBeeMom]

Yup, they can do everything in the cheetahs. My daughter's first experience with severs started at 7, too. It's a bummer but not the end of the world. I was distraught thinking I needed to end my daughters gym career, but the more I learned and realized how common it really is, I felt better. I am sorry she is going through it because it really does seem to be very painful for the girls. The second time my dd got it, she knew what it was the very first day she had the pain and we were able to get her healed up that much faster for recognizing the symptoms and beginning treatment right away.

After a bout with "gymnast wrist", 2 bouts of severs, inflamed vertebrae, we are beginning to relax and take each injury one day at a time and not panic. All of my dd's injuries have been overuse so far, not sure how many hours your kiddo trains but the more hours, the more these things to pop up...Hope your gymmie gets to feeling better fast! Does your gym have a physical therapist that works with their girls? Our gym's pt has been a lifesaver!

Thanks for the advice...we will talk to the coach about a modified workout. I ordered the heel cups but don't know much about them... can they do everything in them? I thought overuse injuries happened in the teens, not to a 7 year old!

 

[LizzieLac]

My DD had/has osgood schatters - knee pain due to growth spurt (over 4 inches in one year!). She suffered greatly last year and it affected her workouts. However, working with her coaches she was able to modify workouts and focus on things that didn't impact her knees so much. I also took her for physical therapy a couple of times per week. The theraprist gave her exercises and stretches she should do during practice when the team was doing leg conditioning. The PT helped tremendously! Icing every day, even if there was no practice that day. Go easy on the advil - it is not really mean for such regular use. We eventually stopped taking it as I worried about effects on her stomach. Good luck!!

 

[Amber]

Thanks for all the advice ! We are definitely going to be conservative and careful regarding workouts. I'm glad to hear that it doesn't end gymnastics-DD was worried about if she could still do it. She's in the gym 15 hours a week (level 4 and TOPs), but we will probably reduce her hours/days during flare ups. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Maitland]

Aleve works much better as an anti-inflammatory than Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin are brand names) for children. Rest is very important...if it hurts, she should rest. There are many things she can do at the gym that do not aggravate this condition such as core work, bars (without dismount, etc.) Ice properly. And...proper stretching always! Severs is usually not long-term if treated right from the get go. It is not uncommon for Severs kids to end up with Osgood Schlatter...so keep tabs on how her knees are doing as OSD can be much harder to come back from than Severs. Good luck!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

This is extremely informative, Severs Disease heel pain.wmv - YouTube Seven is young for severs, but not unheard of. I have found that my younger athletes tend to heal quicker than the older ones if they follow their treatment plan and do all the stretching and strengthening homework given by the doctor/physio/ortho/ etc.

this ^^^. and no way "10 years". as the growth plates close the problem abates. once they have their menstrual cycle a few months that usually wraps it up. let's hope this cycle does not take till she's 17. i've never seen or experienced that.

 

[MaryA]

Thanks, Dunno... You finally gave me one good reason to embrace my DD's impending "womanliness."

 

[2gymmies]

We were given a vitamin supplement which is supposed to help with Sever's and Osgood Schlatter's - it is called Oscon. You can google it, but can really speed up the healing, just make sure to ask a doctor.

Good luck!

 

[Amber]

We ordered the Oscon pills...they say "Satisfaction Guaranteed", so hopefully it will help. I'm also glad to hear it won't continue as long as ten years...now I guess, its rest, icing, pills, braces, and keeping an eye out for Osgood Schlatter's (which has already made an appearance in a teammate)...

 

[BlairBob]

Hmm, never heard of Oscon before and did some googling.

Neat.

But getting back to OSG and Severs, basically time off from hard impacts. REST. Inflammation only goes away with time off besides nutrients of some kind.

 

[gym law mom]

We ordered the Oscon pills...they say "Satisfaction Guaranteed", so hopefully it will help. I'm also glad to hear it won't continue as long as ten years...now I guess, its rest, icing, pills, braces, and keeping an eye out for Osgood Schlatter's (which has already made an appearance in a teammate)...

No it won't be 10 years, but may feel like it. She may have occasional flares of it over the next 5 years or so---usually seen when she hits growth spurts. Good idea to get her checked just to make sure this is exactly what she's dealing with.

 

[gymnast0119]

Awww! Severs stinks!!! One of my teammates had it last year. She used padded heel cups.

 

[sportyfam5]

We ordered the Oscon pills...they say "Satisfaction Guaranteed", so hopefully it will help. I'm also glad to hear it won't continue as long as ten years...now I guess, its rest, icing, pills, braces, and keeping an eye out for Osgood Schlatter's (which has already made an appearance in a teammate)...

Oscon worked wonders for my daughter! I would recommend for sure. Her doctor was fine with it too bt warned not to use for a ling period of time (over three months I think) due to excessive vitamin E problems. I think she only needed one month and was good to go after almost a year of trouble with PT, ice, rest, ibuprofen, ect!

 

[Amber]

Went to see the Ortho today. The bad new is, its Sever's. The good news is, we caught it very early. The doc said if we had waited, the pain would have continued to the point of hurting almost 24/7, instead of just right after gym. We are to continue what we are doing, except, DD needs to wear sneakers during floor and vault, and if she has continued pain, to sit out for these two events. After the flare ups go away, she will need to wear Tuli's Cheetah heel cups in the gym indefinitely. He also recommended her wearing running shoes with a raised heel as much as possible out of the gym.
So, not too bad for DD...so glad we didn't wait to get her checked!