WAG Training with Severs?

[kimute]

My DD has Severs pain in one heel-- first time, started a week ago. Her good friend had this a year ago, trained in runners, and the pain went away after two weeks. My DD saw a PT last week who said let pain be her guide. DD says it doesn't hurt to train with the Cheetah Cup, so she is still doing everything. I'm just wondering if others have trained through a flare up and recovered. The mommy in me is thinking stop pounding on your poor heel, but I also defer to the experience of our PT and our coaches. Not seeking medical advice, just other experiences!

 

[Jazzjerz]

Mine trains through it...I don't think it's ever been necessary to take time off for hers. She uses Cheetah Cups when she has a flare, and ice, massage, and stretching when it's really bad. When it isn't bothering her, there don't seem to be any lingering effects.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Mine has had it on and off forever and always trains right through. The minute the pain starts, we start the protocol and she gets through it. If we catch it soon enough and do aggressive we can now kill it or at least keep it manageable within a week or so. Sometimes it just hurts though. It usually flairs up when she is growing and leaves when she is done. I think in some kids it ankle and some kids it's knees and some kids it's heels and some kids it is elbows or shoulders. They pretty much all have something that bugs them from time to time past a certain level.

Cheetah cups
X braces (dd uses a combo of both when it is bad)
Only tennis shoes out of gym
She has these arch supports that velcro around her arch part of her foot. These help a lot. She wears them in her shoes outside of gym.
Ice after practice (knee deep in a bucket of water with ice cubes around 53 degrees works best for us)
Massage of calf and achiles with targeting tight sport causing her specific pain point
Lots of stretching

Resources

http://amzn.to/2xcsxZf - cheetah cups
Link Removed - x braces
Link Removed - arch support
Link Removed - great reference, tells you all about it and what to do
Link Removed - compression socks that small will fit tight on little ones (mine was nine when we bought these, still fit and in good shape)
Link Removed - trigger point info

 

[sce]

My dd found that stretching her calf and massaging the calf really helped. It really is a day-today thing. It can flare and then go away only to flare again. I do agree, let the pain guide her, if she hurts stop.

 

[mommyof1]

The only thing I have to add to thefellowsmom's summary is Superfeet insoles. My daughter wears these in her shoes at all times, whether or not she is having a Sever's flare-up.

If you haven't done so already, check out the thread "Wasn't prepared for Sever's frequency" pinned at the top of this forum. Lots of great info there.

 

[kimute]

Interesting from one of the Fellows Mom resources (gymnastcare):

We’ve found that long term rest does not affect heel pain at all. As soon as the athlete returns to the gym after rest, the symptoms return. Of course, it’s very important that you listen to your medical providers recommendation, but most of your providers have never seen a gymnast with Sever’s disease. Rest is their default recommendation for any musculoskeletal injury. Sometimes rest is the best advice, but with Sever’s, it doesn’t work.

 

[mommyof1]

Interesting from one of the Fellows Mom resources (gymnastcare):

We’ve found that long term rest does not affect heel pain at all. As soon as the athlete returns to the gym after rest, the symptoms return. Of course, it’s very important that you listen to your medical providers recommendation, but most of your providers have never seen a gymnast with Sever’s disease. Rest is their default recommendation for any musculoskeletal injury. Sometimes rest is the best advice, but with Sever’s, it doesn’t work.

We have found the gymnastcare massage/stretching/ice protocol very useful, but I'm not sure I agree with this. Some time in a boot took care of my kid's first flare-up, and a week and a half of vacation out of the gym cleared up another bad one. Of course maybe the rest just coincided with the end of the growth spurt, but it seemed to make a big difference in both instances.

 

[munchkin3]

Mine trained through it. It lasted a good year for both feet.
We did rely on all the external aids as Fellow listed above.
Ice baths and advil helped a lot also- but what really helped was stretching and massage. The massage is DEEP and painful. Not a pleasant massage by any means and my DD calf was very very mushy when the PT was done. This immediately took pressure off the achilles insertion point in the heel.
Her calves were very tight from growth and the loosening of the muscle was great and solved a lot of issues.
Its been gone now since May (funny, right around the time she broke her foot and was off her feet for a few weeks....LOL)

 

[Amanda]

This is a helpful thread! I'm pretty sure we are dealing with some Severs pain in the heels.

Any recommendations between the x brace and cheetah cups?

For those of you who used compression socks, how helpful were those? How about compression socks vs. arch support?

We've done the massage, stretching, and icing protocol- although not on the hour like recommended. I think it has helped. It just hasn't completely eliminated the pain and I'm trying to decide what to try next as cost adds up.

Thanks!

 

[mommyof1]

Any recommendations between the x brace and cheetah cups?

For those of you who used compression socks, how helpful were those? How about compression socks vs. arch support?

My daughter wears the x-brace in the gym at all times to help prevent Sever's flare-ups and to prevent other overuse injuries that can be caused by flat feet. She adds the cheetah cups during flare-ups, but doesn't like them much because the neoprene sleeves tend to stretch and slide around on her feet.

She wears arch support insoles in supportive shoes at all times. No Toms, Uggs, etc. For sandals, she wears Chacos, Birkenstocks, or Olukai.

 

[spider_monkey]

Mine trains through it too. She's only 8 but we've been dealing with it for a year now. During flare ups she wears the cheetah cup, x brace, and we do ice/heat and massage. She also misses quite a bit of vault training during flare ups, because punching the spring board is so painful that it affects her form and it's not really safe. Flare ups seem to last several weeks to a month, and disappear overnight.

 

[munchkin3]

My daughter wears the x-brace in the gym at all times to help prevent Sever's flare-ups and to prevent other overuse injuries that can be caused by flat feet. She adds the cheetah cups during flare-ups, but doesn't like them much because the neoprene sleeves tend to stretch and slide around on her feet.

She wears arch support insoles in supportive shoes at all times. No Toms, Uggs, etc. For sandals, she wears Chacos, Birkenstocks, or Olukai.

Wear a sock under the cheetah.....my DD cut the toes off her socks....the fabric/cotton keeps the cheetah from sliding and getting sweaty.

 

[mommyof1]

Wear a sock under the cheetah.....my DD cut the toes off her socks....the fabric/cotton keeps the cheetah from sliding and getting sweaty.

Thanks--we will try this! Tink has tried cutting the toes off the socks and wearing them over the cheetah, but not under.

 

[spider_monkey]

Wear a sock under the cheetah.....my DD cut the toes off her socks....the fabric/cotton keeps the cheetah from sliding and getting sweaty.

And I wonder if it would help with the smell....holy moses does that thing stink!!!

 

[John]

And I wonder if it would help with the smell....holy moses does that thing stink!!!

Made me laugh out loud. DD's tiger paws smell like cheese left in the sun. I wash them with baking soda but no luck. We bought new ones but she insists she keeps the old ones in her bag for backup. I wouldn't believe a ten-year-old could make such a smell.

 

[munchkin3]

And I wonder if it would help with the smell....holy moses does that thing stink!!!

lol! Yes that smell!
She would wash them in the shower at night.....prop em up and they were dry by morning.....