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Kids’ Feet Can Keep Them on the Sidelines, Too |
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Spring is here, and parks and playgrounds all across the
U.S. are filling up with after-school youth sports teams. From baseball
to soccer and track, some kids are out on the field every day of the
week playing one sport or another, and sometimes they even play two
different sports in one day!
While physical activity is great for kids, overdoing it
can cause lasting problems for their feet and ankles. Bones, ligaments
and tendons in kids’ feet and ankles aren’t fully developed yet, and
damage can occur when they are stressed from hours of playing sports.
Parents and coaches need to be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of
overuse injuries in youth athletes, and to have problems evaluated by a
foot and ankle surgeon for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate
treatment.
Common overuse injuries that can occur in children’s
feet and ankles include: |
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Inflammation of the heel’s growth plate, due to muscle
strain and repetitive stress. In children, the heel bone is not yet
fully developed until age 14 or older. Until then, new bone is forming
at the growth plate, a weak area located at the back of the heel.
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Achilles tendonitis, occurs mainly in adolescents when
the Achilles tendon becomes stressed and inflamed from repeated
running and pounding.
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Stress fractures, which are hairline breaks resulting
from repeated stress on the bone, often occur in adolescents engaged
in athletics, especially when the intensity of training suddenly
changes.
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Tendo-Achilles bursitis, is an inflammation of the
fluid-filled sac located between the Achilles tendon and the heel
bone. It can result from injuries to the heel, repetitive stress, or
wearing poorly-cushioned shoes.
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Remember, pain is NEVER normal in a child’s foot or
ankle! Some kids will insist on continuing to play even when they’re in
pain. Parents and coaches should never allow this to happen! Continuing
to play with an injury can result in problems that may plague the child
into adulthood. Any pain that lasts more than a few days, or that is
severe enough to limit the child’s ability to walk, should be evaluated
in our office as soon as possible.
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Is Pain Keeping You From Losing Weight?
With spring in the air, many of us are heading outdoors
to get some exercise. And walking is one of the best, as well as one of
the most economical, methods of exercise. In fact, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control tells us that people of all ages benefit from
participating in regular, moderate-intensity physical activity, such as
30 minutes of brisk walking five or more times a week.
The latest data from the National Center for Health
Statistics show that 30 percent of U.S. adults 20 years of age and
older—over 60 million people—are obese. And when we think about losing
those extra pounds, a program of exercise walking usually pops into our
minds, right?
Of course, exercise walking is difficult, if not
impossible, when our feet hurt. And very often, being overweight has
contributed to foot problems such as heel pain (plantar fasciitis) and
flat feet. So what’s an overweight person to do? If your feet are
keeping you from exercising, make an appointment with our office for an
evaluation. Very often there are some simple approaches we can recommend
that will ease the pain and make it possible for you to get started on
your fitness walking program in very short order. In other cases we may
recommend a surgical procedure to ease the pain of deformities such as
bunions or hammertoes, and we’ll be able to suggest alternative types of
exercise you can do until your feet are ready to take you out on the
walking paths again.
Don’t let painful feet keep you from losing weight!
Eliminating that pain is the first step in regaining physical fitness
and having a more active and fulfilling lifestyle. |
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