Search for tag: "tendons"

Many kids, especially athletes, will complain that their feet hurt at some time. Heel pain is especially common and especially during growth spurts.

Heel pain in athletes who are growing actually has a name. It's called calcaneal apophysitis, otherwise known as Sever's disease. It is most common between the ages of 9 and 14 and is seen in athletes who do a lot of running and jumping. My teenage soccer player has this and actually so do several of his teammates, or the teammates of my younger son who will probably end up having this also. Basically, what it is, is inflammation of the growth plate of the heel bone. The bones, muscles, and tendons in that area all grow at different rates during puberty. And when they're out of sync, the muscles and tendons pull too hard on the growth plate and that causes the inflammation.

So what can your child do to help once the pain has started? Well, to be honest, the pain will improve most once your child is done with their growth spurt. Also, it's best to stop any activities that cause pain. But, of course, we know that's not going to happen, especially if your child is on a competitive or a school athletic team.

So other things that help include having an ice pack in a towel and icing the heel for 15 minutes every one to two hours during flare-ups. Have your child take an anti-inflammatory pain medicine, like ibuprofen or naproxen. But be sure to check with your child's pediatrician on dosing. Gel heel cups and shoes with good support are also helpful. They help put less pressure and less stress on the heel. Your child's pediatrician can also give you exercises that can help with stretching and which can help with the pain and help keep the condition from getting too bad.

If the pain continues, your child may be referred to a physical therapist. And if all else fails, then your child will be put into a walking boot and referred to an orthopedic specialist for management of severe cases. Eventually, Sever's disease gets better, but not really until your child has stopped growing and that growth plate closes. Until then, manage the pain and follow the advice your child's doctor gives them.

Dr. Miller: What is carpal tunnel syndrome? We're going to talk about that next on Scope Radio.

Announcer: Access to our experts with in-depth information about the biggest health issues facing you today. The Specialists with Dr. Tom Miller is on The Scope. Dr. Miller: Hi, I'm Dr. Tom Miller and I'm here with Dr. Doug Hutchinson. He's a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery here at the University of Utah. Doug, what is carpal tunnel syndrome? What is that?

Dr. Hutchinson: Tom, carpal tunnel syndrome is a common diagnosis, and frankly, it's commonly missed diagnosed in the lay public. Carpal tunnel syndrome primarily is numbness in your fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome is not primarily wrist pain. That's the first misconception I'd like to solve. So if you have wrist pain, it's a different story. If you primarily have numbness, sometimes it comes with pain, but mostly it's numbness.

Dr. Miller: What causes that numbness?

Dr. Hutchinson: What's happening is the median nerve, with is a main nerve that goes into your hand through your wrist, goes through a tight tunnel where all the tendons for your fingers are also located, and basically our assumption is that the space is so limited that if you use your tendons a lot, which we all do over the course of years, there will be a little bit of a buildup of tissue in there, and maybe a little bit of inflammation, though it's not much, but enough to make it so that the nerve feels claustrophobic, if you will, and pressured. Therefore, pressure on a nerve creates numbness where that nerve is going or coming from, and in this case that nerve is coming from those fingers.

So carpal tunnel syndrome is numbness in most of your fingers. Sometimes they feel as though it's all their fingers. Usually it's the thumb, index and third finger primarily. It usually comes at night because of the way we sleep on our wrists, and that is part of the treatment right there, is to change the way we sleep with our wrists bent. Dr. Miller: Now, are some people at greater risk of developing carpal tunnel than others?

Dr. Hutchinson: The common person who has carpal tunnel is 40s, 50s, 60s, and a little bit more often in a female than in a male. There's a lot of history of whether these come from repetitive activities and computers, and probably the bias and my answer is it doesn't. It's primarily genetic. It's primarily something that you were going to get anyhow even if you lived in rubber room your entire life and didn't do anything with your hands. It's just something that eventually can happen to some people because the nerve's in a tight spot in the wrist, and certain movements and certain positions will make that nerve a little bit unhappy over time and it will want a little bit of a bigger house.

Dr. Miller: Does it usually occur in the dominant hand or in both hands?

Dr. Hutchinson: Usually it's in the dominant hand first, but it usually occurs in both hands eventually.

Dr. Miller: Now, I heard that it's more common in pregnant women. Is that true?

Dr. Hutchinson: Pregnant women are very common, and anybody else who has major fluid changes, etc., and even can come in some women around their periods because of that type of change. Post-menopausal women are clearly the most common when it comes in. So yeah, there are changes that can occur. Some people will have something like a ganglion cyst that will actually put pressure in that area, and that can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. But usually it's idiopathic, and that means that there's no real cause for it, it just is happening to them.

Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at TheScopeRadio.com.