A heel cup improves the function of the heel pad in Sever's injury: effects on heel pad thickness, peak pressure and pain

Abstract

Sever's injury (apophysitis calcanei) is considered to be the dominant cause of heel pain among children between 8 and 15 years. Treating Sever's injury with insoles is often proposed as a part of a traditional mix of recommendations. Using a custom-molded rigid heel cup with a brim enclosing the heel pad resulted in effective pain relief without reducing the physical activity level in our previous two studies. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the heel cup on heel pad thickness and heel peak pressure (n=50). The difference in heel pad thickness and in heel peak pressure using a sports shoe without and with a heel cup was compared. With the heel cup the heel pad thickness improved significantly and the heel peak pressure was significantly reduced. These effects correlated with a significant reduction in pain when using the heel cup in a sports shoe, compared with using a sports shoe without the heel cup. A heel cup, providing an effective heel pad support in the sports shoe, improved the heel pad thickness and reduced heel peak pressure in Sever's injury with corresponding pain relief.