Growing Pains in young footballers

Growing pains (Traction Apophysitis) can occur in children following a period of rapid growth and/ or increase in sporting activity. During periods of rapid skeletal growth (think teenagers suddenly almost growing overnight) the cartilage within long bones of the body is weaker and becomes more susceptible to injury.

Growing pains most commonly affect tendon attachments at these sites: the heel (Sever’s disease), below the knee cap (Osgood-Schlatter’s) and at the base of the knee cap (Sindig-Larsen-Johansson). Often these children participate in football as well as other running and jumping sports.

Onset is usually gradual with pain over the areas mentioned above. Unfortunately, often growing pains mean the child ends up resting from their sport. However, rest alone often does not solve the issue, with pain returning when the child attempts to return to activity.  Bone often grows quicker than the muscle has time to stretch and adapt causing increased tension at the tendon attachment which can cause pain to develop. We cannot control this!

However, we can have some control over other contributing factors such as;

• Training load- how frequently/ intense training is, is it varied and balanced with good emphasis on technique and rest?
• Poor biomechanics
• Poor capacity of muscles to deal with rapid skeletal growth

Obtaining an early diagnosis and appropriate management plan should reduce the impact on a child’s participation in sport.  An individualised rehabilitation program should be devised with the help of your physiotherapist to address the factors outlined above. A physio will also advise on which activities to temporarily limit and which to continue with and future training strategies.

Lisa

Blog post by Lisa
Senior Physiotherapist
MSc MACP MHCPC MCSP 
Emma James Physio

Growing Pains

Growing pains (Traction Apophysitis) can occur in children following a period of rapid growth and/ or increase in sporting activity. During periods of rapid skeletal growth (think teenagers suddenly almost growing overnight) the cartilage within long bones of the body is weaker and becomes more susceptible to injury.

Growing pains most commonly affect tendon attachments at these sites: the heel (Sever’s disease), below the knee cap (Osgood-Schlatter’s) and at the base of the knee cap (Sindig-Larsen-Johansson). Often these children participate in running and jumping sports (but not always).

Onset is usually gradual with pain over the areas mentioned above. Unfortunately, often growing pains mean the child ends up resting from their sport. However, rest alone often does not solve the issue with pain returning when the child attempts to return to activity.

Bone often grows quicker than the muscle has time to stretch and adapt causing increased tension at the tendon attachment which can cause pain to develop. We cannot control this!

However, we can have some control over other contributing factors such as;

• Training load- how frequently/ intense training is, is it varied and balanced with good emphasis on technique and rest?
• Poor biomechanics
• Poor capacity of muscles to deal with rapid skeletal growth

Obtaining an early diagnosis and appropriate management plan should reduce the impact on a child’s participation in sport. An individualised rehabilitation program should be devised with the help of your physiotherapist to address the factors outlined above. A physio will also advice on which activities to temporarily limit and which to continue with and future training strategies.

More Information:

• Paediatric Physio
• Biomechanical Assessment, Correction & Orthotics
• Gait Scan

Lisa

Blog post by Lisa
Senior Physiotherapist
MSc MACP MHCPC MCSP 
Emma James Physio

“I’ve got that Plantar Fa…something”

At some point, we’ve all experienced some kind of pain in the foot, or know of someone who is currently experiencing/complaining about persistent foot pain. Perhaps it was around the time we decided to get back to the gym for six weeks. Perhaps it was after a major hike up in the Lake District. Perhaps it is just the nature of our job has a bartender. Quite often, we then get told – or even self diagnose – that it’s something called Plantar fasciitis. But what exactly is Plantar fasciitis?

The Plantar Fascia is a thick, strong band of connective tissue in the base of the foot, roughly spanning from the heel to just before our toes. Because of its structure, it acts as a shock absorber, provides structural supports for our arches; and mechanically acts as a spring when we walk and run. Plantar Fasci-itis is the name of the condition when this structure is irritated and inflammed, thus causing the persistent, and often flagrant pain.

What causes plantar fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis often occurs with a combination of physical, environmental, and social/work factors all impacting on the structure of the foot. Some of these are listed below:

• Altered/poor gait (walking) biomechanics
• Weakness in hip, knee, and/or foot muscles
• Repetitive strain on the soft tissue
• Recent change in physical workload (Predominantly overloading)
• Poor/uncomfortable footwear

Treatment and Management

The initial goal in managing plantar fasciitis is to reduce pain and inflammation. Your physiotherapist would be able to provide some manual treatment to help begin the recovery process. But it is also important to then assess and examine all these factors mentioned above in order to get to the root of the issue, and being able to prescribe the most appropriate management plan. This may include some stretching/strengthening exercises, modifications to your activities/daily schedule, and in some cases recommending extra assistance, such as an orthotic.

All our physiotherapists at Emma James are trained to assess any biomechanical issues, whilst the clinic is also equipped with purpose-specific pressure pads to perform a detailed gait analysis.

If this is something that you needed help with to get back to your work, your training, or even just to be pain-free, come and see our team of experts at Emma James Physio and we would love to help you!

Kelvin

Kelvin Leung, Sports Physiotherapist
Emma James Physio