• Growth plate inflammation on the back and the bottom of heel in children between 8 and 14.years of age
• Seen in active children who often go barefoot
• Poor foot posture such as low arch or extremely high arch feet causes overload of the heel
• May occur during growth spurts

SYMPTOMS:

• Pain to the heel bone at the end of an activity.
• Occasionally painful to the Achilles tendon
• Stiffness after sitting and getting up to walk
• Limping after sitting and getting up to walk, particularly after completion of athletic or exercise activity

SIGNS:

• No evidence of redness or swelling
• Usually associated with tight lower extremity muscles
• Tenderness to press the area of the growth plate (area is demonstrated on picture below)

TREATMENT:

• Rest
• Ice
• Custom molded prescription orthotics (shoe inserts) to support poor foot posture(low arch or high arch feet)
• Heel lifts in the early stages of treatment to help decrease the pull of the tight calf muscle and Achilles tendon
• Stretching exercises to help stretch the tight calf muscles
• Physical Therapy Modalities to help reduce the inflammation
• Night splinting to prevent tightness or low grade spasm of the calf muscles while sleeping

In severe cases, cast immobilization to allow the area to rest completely