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Don't let kids "play through pain," expert advises
Last Updated: 2004-09-22 15:13:15 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children with persistent foot and ankle pain may have underlying injuries that could be worsened by further activity, according to a spokesperson for the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.
For instance, ongoing foot and ankle pain can be a sign of a small fracture, podiatric surgeon Christopher Hendrix told Reuters Health. Continuing to play on these fractures could make the fractures worse, delay healing or cause the bone to heal improperly, he said.
Moreover, if these fractures occur in growth plates, the sites where kids form new bone, the fractures may prevent them from growing new bone in those areas, he said.
So as kids return to school and start playing soccer and other sports that consist of many stops and starts, Hendrix recommends parents watch kids for signs of ongoing foot and ankle pain.
When children complain of pain, limp, or wake up with pain, that "warrants getting them checked out," Hendrix said in an interview.
He added that the signs of foot and ankle pain may also be difficult to read, since kids may not mention their pain out of fear that they will have to stop sports. "Children are great at hiding stuff," Hendrix noted. "They don't want to stop playing."
Consequently, he said that parents should also watch for signs of foot and ankle swelling, which may be apparent when one of a child's feet no longer fits into a shoe. Children who begin to play a sport differently or lose interest in the activity may also be suffering from persistent foot and ankle pain, Hendrix noted.
He explained that persistent pain can occur after children sustain some type of injury, such as an ankle sprain. If that injury takes a long time to heal, this can be a sign that, along with the sprain, the child has developed a small fracture, which needs attention, Hendrix noted.
However, parents should also be on the lookout for chronic foot and ankle pain in children who have not experienced any obvious injuries, he said. For instance, children can start to hurt as a result of overuse injuries, which occur whenever they do the same motion repetitively, such as when tennis players practice their serves and pitchers practice their throws.
Unfortunately, these repetitive injuries, if left untreated, can affect the way children's bones develop, and turn a temporary pain condition into a chronic problem, he said.
Hendrix, who also works at the Campbell Clinic of Orthopedics in Memphis, Tennessee, said that children with underlying fractures that cause persistent foot and ankle pain may need a cast or even surgery, or may simply have to take a break from normal activity.
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