Cleats for heel pain

Discussion in 'Youth & HS Soccer' started by Benny Dargle, Jul 7, 2009.

  1. Benny Dargle

    Benny Dargle Member+

    Jul 23, 2008
    LA
    Anyone have any recommendations for cleats that are particularly good for heel pain (Sever's disease) in a 12-year old boy? Either shoes that have better heel cushioning or shoes that are deep enough to permit the comfortable use of gel inserts. My son wears gel inserts in his tennis shoes, but his cleats don't feel comfortable with them because of the pressing of the shoe against his instep.
     
  2. chitownseadog

    chitownseadog Member

    Dec 21, 2006
    I dont have an answer for you regarding the shoes other than the heel counterweight should help. I can tell you that my son had severs and it was very very difficult but it did go away. Probably when he was a U14 so hang in there and good luck.
     
  3. BarcaRocks

    BarcaRocks New Member

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Barcelona Guayaquil
    Our son has battled Sever's since he was 12, as well. It seems the higher end cleats at least have a bit more cushioning. However, we had to go to orthotic inserts, a couple of trips to an orthopaedist, a podiatrist to discover this. Custom orthotics help the most, but off-the-shelf orthotic inserts help. You can get those at a good runner's shoe store and they can help you fit them into your child's cleats. Further, the orthopaedic doctor gave us a set of stretching exercises designed to relieve some of the pain. Playing soccer year-round doesn't help - it is also associated with overuse. The growth plates in a kid's hell area don't fuse until they are 16, 17 or 18. Before all this happened, i didn't even know we had growth plates like that in our heels. Good luck.
     
  4. chitownseadog

    chitownseadog Member

    Dec 21, 2006
    since yer in LA I guess you dont have to deal with indoor but if you can keep him off of the hard surfaces it will help ( including some of the poor artifical stuff).
     
  5. BarcaRocks

    BarcaRocks New Member

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Barcelona Guayaquil
    Our son's club plays futsal during the winter months, along with training on new synthetic turf fields outdoors when the weather permits. As fun as futsal is for the boys, the hard floors probably don't help with Sever's. Fortunately, futsal games are short in duration - fast and furious. Good luck with it. We are looking forward to the day he no longer has the intermittent heel problems.
     
  6. Benny Dargle

    Benny Dargle Member+

    Jul 23, 2008
    LA
    Thanks. The overuse problem is difficult, since he only has a few weeks off from his club during the summer and around the winter holidays. It isn't horrible now, but he has to ice it after every practice and you can tell he's running a little more stiffly than he did before this began. We don't have indoor here and he doesn't play futsal or beach soccer (which might be the worst thing for his heels), but the surfaces are often pretty hard in drought-stricken SoCal.
     
  7. BarcaRocks

    BarcaRocks New Member

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Barcelona Guayaquil
    If the problem persists, take him to a podiatrist. He will outgrow it, but like us, we are told to be patient. We are told the problem won't get worse, and that he has to learn to handle some level of discomfort. We give him a couple of Alleve the morning of games and he does ice the area and does stretching. I feel for you. The 12 new, lighted, artificial grass fields about to open here in Overland Park will allow him to practice year round, pretty much regardless of the weather. He says the artificial fields he has played on - namely, Scott Gallagher, Rockhurst College and William Jewell College artificial fields, do NOT aggravate the problem. He says poor grass fields that have knots of earth or grass sticking up from the surface, when running on top of those knobs, really can start the heel pain to return.
     
  8. Bird1812

    Bird1812 New Member

    Nov 10, 2004
    This question comes up all the time and is a common problem for kids this age. It seems to be related to growth spurts. If you do a search in this forum on heel pain, you should find past discussions. Inserts don't help much, but I can almost guarantee this will. Switch him to turf shoes no matter what surface he is playing on. This has been so successful for so many kids, I'm surprised more people and their kid's doctors don't know about it. Best of all the relief is almost immediate.
     
  9. chitownseadog

    chitownseadog Member

    Dec 21, 2006
    Turf shoes helped??? I feel terrible that we didnt know that when my son was suffering. :mad:
    Great info for those out there with this condition tho, maybe there should be some kind of sticky thread for soccer related ailments.
     
  10. futbalfan325

    futbalfan325 New Member

    Apr 10, 2008
    Naperville, IL
    Club:
    Wolverhampton Wanderers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not a lot you can do but let it run its course, but our ortho dr. recommended the Tulis brand gel heel cups, which seemed to help a bit.
     
  11. Bird1812

    Bird1812 New Member

    Nov 10, 2004
    Both my kids had this problem. We tried heel cups and inserts with the first before someone else told us about the turf shoes. Cups and inserts did not work. Turf shoes did. We didn't even bother with them the second time around and went directly to turf shoes. Another advantage to the turfs is they were worn indoors and out without any issue, so we only had to buy new ones when size became an issue, rather than spending money on cleats for outdoor use and flats for indoor use.
     
  12. rca2

    rca2 Member+

    Nov 25, 2005
    Cleats on a hard surface will have healthy feet hurting after 90 minutes of hard play. If I can play with flats or turfs without slipping, then I don't use cleats. Its easier on the feet. Save the cleats for soft fields or long grass. Really young kids are so light that it doesn't make a difference. But as the kids mature the pressure difference becomes significant. Think about it. If a player lands on the heel of one foot one or two cleats will be taking all his body weight. Stopping and turning puts lots of weight on the heels.
     
  13. ussoccercoach

    ussoccercoach New Member

    Dec 21, 2008
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Re: Cleats for heel pain - FINALLY A CURE

    After months and months of dealing with this problem I have found one article that cured the problem, not just helped a little. It is very detailed and well done with instructions. We bought the cleat they recommended, the insole and made the mods. Problem completely solved. Article is http://www.socceru.com/heel_pain_youth_soccer.htm
    and make sure you understand the part about the front of the insert.
     
  14. Benny Dargle

    Benny Dargle Member+

    Jul 23, 2008
    LA
    Just as an update, my son's condition appears to have improved considerably. I don't think "cure" is the right word (and I'm a bit suspicious of claims like that), but we're optimistic. Our approach was a combination of (1) summer rest (he did do a couple of soccer camps, but had a couple of weeks with nothing), (2) Dr. Schol's gel heel pads (women's size) in all of his shoes, (3) stretching every night, and (4) new boots (Fila with classic round low cleats, which give better surface coverage and stability, while still providing room for the heel pads). We tried turf shoes too, but they didn't work as well for him as the new cleats and gel pads combined. I imagine turf shoes could work well if you could find the right one, but the selection in smaller sizes is not great.

    Of course, now his knees hurt a bit . . . We're ready for him to hurry up through this growing pain stage!
     
  15. BarcaRocks

    BarcaRocks New Member

    Jun 12, 2009
    Club:
    Barcelona Guayaquil
    Good to know it has gotten better. Our son really never got much rest. His team won state, went to Regionals, then headed for a camp at Creighton. With high school "captain's kick arounds" all summer - three days per week, he didn't really get enough rest. His new custom inserts appear to have helped a lot. High school practices and conditioning get started today, and during the season, the boys practice every night for a couple of hours. We'll see how he does. Hope he is "healed up" (no pun intended) by the time club soccer picks back up in November.
     
  16. beaster101

    beaster101 New Member

    Aug 6, 2009
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    my friend had heel problems with the lazer2s if that helps any
     
  17. socafan

    socafan New Member

    Oct 13, 2005
    I have had several young players have heel problems, and they all were wearing the Nike Legends.
     
  18. q8kuba

    q8kuba New Member

    Oct 10, 2016
    Club:
    AC Milan

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