4. My teenage son is experiencing pain in his heels. He regularly plays basketball and it’s affecting his game. What could be the problem?

Heel pain in the teenage years usually occurs where the Achilles comes off the calcaneum or heel bone. At this age the calcaneum has still not fused properly and has a growth area in it. If too much sport is being played there can be inflammation in the region of the growth plate, since this is very soft bone.

The first plan of management is to consult a physiotherapist or podiatrist to check if the pull of the Achilles tendon on the calcaneum is ideally aligned. Having done this, reduce the amount of jumping and running sports, such as soccer and basketball, for two to six weeks. This time of rest will be determined by pain. Other sports such as swimming can still be continued.

Massage the area with ice each evening when the pain is acute then introduce calf stretches such as the exercise shown below. Further calf stretches can be found in Francine's Bodyworks book.