Soccer

For a sport that most of the word knows as “football”, you would expect that a lot of emphasis would be placed on feet.

This is not always the case, especially in younger players. While soccer is generally safer than other contact sports such as rugby league or union, it still has its fair share of injuries and most of them involve legs and feet.

A common one that we see is youth heel pain, sometimes known as Sever’s Disease.

When a fast-growing child is very active, there can be overuse of the still-developing bones and tendons in the heel. It is more common at the start of the season, and more likely to occur in children who over-pronate (feet ‘roll in’ flattening the arch).

The good news is that kids will grow out of the condition when their bones and tendons finish growing. In the meantime, we can show you how to strap the feet to minimise heel movement. In some cases, we may recommend orthotic devices with deep heel cups to keep the heel in place.