As children start to participate in sport and become more active; foot and lower limb problems associated with exercise can occur.
When injuries occur children are no different to adults in this respect, however they tend to repair more quickly and not to rest when injured and therefore need to be monitored carefully.
Growth, possible weight gain and increased exercise contrive to cause a wide range of painful foot and lower limb conditions. These complaints should always be taken seriously and a diagnosis made as soon as possible.
Failure to recognise and treat these symptoms which can often be described as growing pains can lead to long-term problems for the child and sometimes affects their ability to reach true sporting potential.
Most problems can be readily managed by your Podiatrist and in conjuction with other specialists if required :
- Chiropractic
- Physiotherapy
- Gentle massage
- Pilates
- Orthotics
- Footwear Advice
Treatment may also require periods of rest. Often the problem can be solved with footwear advice alone.
Very young children may regard the problem as the norm and not complain.
All aches and pains in children should be taken seriously and investigated professionally, particularly during periods of active growth.
Many of the young athletes we see in our clinics are often subjected to “overuse” injuries caused by excessive training or that they have a predisposition to injury as they have never undergone a musculoskeletal examination prior to embarking on their chosen sporting activity.
We try to stress to all coaches that all young athletes whatever their sport are offered a professional screening programme which may well highlight an underlying issue that may affect the low back, hip knee joint, foot and ankle.