Back to School: Children’s Heel Pain Prevention

Heel pain in children is becoming increasingly common — especially in young athletes. Their bodies are growing and changing more rapidly than their style choices. This is the time when they need the most protection. One customer recently wrote to us about why Tuli’s Heel Cups are on her back-to-school shopping list:

Back to school means two things in my male dominated household: it’s time to return to the classroom and more importantly (to my boys-not their mom), it’s time to return to playing sports!

Football, baseball and basketball reign supreme at my house, and my boys love training and playing hard. While training hard may help them get better at the sports that they love so much, it sometimes can cause injuries to their young and growing bodies. We have had our share of broken bones, sprains and bruises. We have learned the hard (and sometimes expensive way) that it’s better to take steps to keep our young athletes injury free than to pay for it later with doctor visits and lost playing time.

One of the biggest issues my boys have experienced is heel pain. My oldest son suffered greatly with debilitating heel pain during football season when he was 11. The podiatrist’s diagnosis was Plantar Fasciitis. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the story for him. A year later he had more heel pain and was diagnosed with Sever’s Disease.

While I had heard of Plantar Fasciitis, Sever’s disease was a new one to me. Apparently, it is more common in boys and typically occurs when a child is between 8 and 13 years old. The podiatrist told us to rest, ice, massage, stretch his calves on daily basis and the use of a quality heel cup in their shoes and cleats. Specifically, the doctor told us to get Tuli’s.

Having learned my lesson with my older son, I was immediately on high alert when the younger child (now 11) mentioned heel pain after basketball practice. I was determined not to let this child suffer like the older one had! We immediately purchased Tuli’s heel cups for his basketball shoes and every day tennis shoes. On top of that, we started a vigorous routine of icing and lower leg stretches using the ProStretch Plus. These tools had helped his older brother recover from his Severs and now we were using them to prevent Severs from developing for him.

Within a week, my son was experiencing very little heel pain. Within 2 weeks, we never heard him mention it again. The heel cups became part of his every day equipment, and the stretching routine continued to keep him symptom free. We have been able to keep him out of the doctor’s office, on the playing court, and most importantly-pain free!

The minute any of my friends mention their children’s heel pain I tell them to get some Tuli’s Heel Cups and start stretching! In fact I tell everyone to put it on their back to school shopping list. It’s the best preseason investment I make!

Julie D.

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