Sports Injuries in Kids: What Parents Should Watch For
If you have an active kid, you already know the drill. They play hard, they fall over, they bounce back up, and they’re off again before you’ve even finished wincing on their behalf. A bit of roughness comes with the territory, and most of the time that’s completely fine.
But sometimes what looks like a minor knock or a bit of post-sport soreness is actually something worth paying closer attention to. Kids don’t always have the words to describe what they’re feeling, they’re often not great at sitting still long enough to notice pain, and – bless them – they are frequently motivated to keep playing even when they probably shouldn’t be.
As a parent, you’re often the one who notices the limp they’ve been hiding, the shoe they quietly avoid wearing, or the wince they try to suppress when they think you’re not looking. That instinct is worth trusting.
Here’s a guide to the foot and lower limb sports injuries that are most common in kids, what to look out for, and when it’s time to get them seen.
Why kids aren’t just small adults
It’s worth understanding why children’s sports injuries are a slightly different beast to adult ones. The key difference is growth plates.
Growth plates are areas of developing cartilage near the ends of the long bones that haven’t yet hardened into solid bone. They’re the areas where bones grow, and they’re present throughout childhood and into the teenage years, typically closing somewhere between 14 and 18 depending on the child and the bone involved.
Growth plates are softer and more vulnerable than the surrounding bone and connective tissue. In an adult, a hard pull on a tendon might strain the tendon itself. In a growing child, that same force can pull at the growth plate instead, causing a different kind of injury that heals differently and needs to be managed differently.
This is why certain injuries are almost exclusively seen in children – and why dismissing persistent pain in an active kid as “just growing pains” without a proper look isn’t always the right call.
Sever’s disease (calcaneal apophysitis)
This is probably the most common foot complaint we see in active children, and if your child plays any sport that involves running or jumping – such as footy, soccer, netball, basketball, or athletics – it’s worth knowing about.
Sever’s disease isn’t actually a disease at all. It’s an irritation of the growth plate at the back of the heel, where the Achilles tendon attaches. During periods of rapid growth, the heel bone can grow faster than the Achilles tendon, creating tightness and tension at that attachment point. Add in the repetitive impact of sport and you get pain, tenderness, and swelling at the back and bottom of the heel.
Kids with Sever’s typically complain of heel pain during or after sport, and you might notice them walking on their toes to avoid loading the heel. It’s most common between the ages of 8 and 14 and tends to flare up at the start of a new sports season when training loads suddenly increase.
The good news is it’s very manageable. Treatment usually involves load modification, heel raises, calf stretching, and sometimes orthotics. It resolves completely once the growth plate closes — but that’s no reason to just wait it out, because it can be genuinely painful and affects training and participation in the meantime.
Osgood-Schlatter disease
Another one with a dramatic name that’s really just an overuse injury in a growing body. Osgood-Schlatter affects the growth plate just below the knee, at the tibial tubercle – the bony bump you can feel at the top of the shin – where the patellar tendon attaches.
It shows up as pain and tenderness directly over that bump, which is often visibly swollen. It’s typically worse during and after activity, especially things like running, jumping, and kneeling, and it usually eases with rest. It’s most common in kids aged 10 to 15, particularly those going through a growth spurt, and boys are affected slightly more than girls.
Like Sever’s, it resolves with skeletal maturity. In the meantime, activity modification, quadriceps strengthening, and guided rehabilitation help manage symptoms and keep kids participating where possible.
Ankle sprains
Ankle sprains are extremely common in sporty kids, and because they happen so often, they tend to get a bit dismissed. The classic response is to ice it, rest it for a day or two, and then send the kid back out to play.
The problem is that a poorly rehabilitated ankle sprain is one of the leading causes of chronic ankle instability – where the ankle keeps rolling on the same side because the ligaments haven’t properly regained their strength and the muscles around the ankle haven’t been retrained to protect it. One bad sprain that isn’t properly managed can turn into a recurring problem that follows a kid well into adulthood.
If your child has sprained their ankle, it’s worth getting it properly assessed, particularly if:
The swelling is significant or they can’t weight bear at all
It’s the same ankle that has been sprained before
The pain isn’t improving within a few days
They’re apprehensive about returning to sport
A proper rehabilitation program – even a short one – makes a meaningful difference to long-term outcomes. It’s not overcautious; it’s just good sense.
Stress fractures
Stress fractures are small cracks in bone caused by repetitive loading rather than a single event. In kids, they tend to occur in those who do a lot of running or jumping, particularly when training loads have increased quickly – like at the start of a season or during school sport preparation.
The foot and lower leg are common sites. Pain typically builds gradually rather than appearing suddenly – a dull ache that’s worse during activity and eases with rest, often localised to a specific spot on the bone. It’s easy to mistake for muscle soreness, but the pattern of worsening with activity and improving quickly with rest is a useful distinguishing feature.
Stress fractures in kids need to be taken seriously because the growth plates are nearby, and an unmanaged fracture can affect bone development if left alone. If you’re seeing this pattern of pain – gradually worsening, activity-related, and not resolving like normal muscle soreness would – it’s important to get it looked at properly rather than waiting it out. A diagnostic ultrasound can be a useful tool for assessing this kind of injury.
Plantar fasciitis (yes, in kids too)
Plantar fasciitis is usually thought of as an adult complaint, but it does occur in children, particularly in those with flat feet, tight calf muscles, or who are doing a lot of sport on hard surfaces.
It presents as pain under the heel or along the arch, typically worst first thing in the morning or after a period of rest. In kids it can be hard to distinguish from Sever’s disease, which is why a proper assessment matters — because the treatment approach differs depending on what’s actually going on.
Ingrown toenails
Not as dramatic as a stress fracture, but worth mentioning because they’re incredibly common in sporty kids and can sideline a child from sport surprisingly effectively when they become infected or very painful.
Kids who play sport in closed shoes – like footy boots and other tight-fitting footwear – are prone to ingrown nails from pressure on the toes. Nails that are cut too short, cut in a curve, or have sustained repeated impact are also more likely to ingrow.
If your child is complaining of toe pain that’s not related to an injury, check the nails. Redness, swelling, or discharge around the nail edge means it’s time to see a podiatrist rather than trying to manage it at home. In some cases, nail surgery may be the most appropriate solution.
The signs to watch for as a parent
Kids are notorious for not communicating their pain well. Some kids will tell you immediately and dramatise every bump, but a lot of others will quietly soldier on through something genuinely significant. Either way, these are the signs worth paying attention to:
Limping during or after sport, even if they say they’re fine when you ask
Avoiding activities they normally love, particularly if they can’t give you a clear reason why
Walking differently – on their toes, with their foot turned in or out, or favouring one side. Changes in gait are worth having checked as part of a children’s foot assessment
Visible swelling around a joint or along a bone that doesn’t settle within a day or two
Pain that’s consistently in the same spot, rather than the general all-over ache of a big week of activity
Shoes that are being avoided or quietly left at the door, which often means something hurts inside them
Complaining of pain at night or first thing in the morning, which tends to point to something more than regular post-sport soreness
The “no pain, no gain” trap
Sport is good for kids. We want them active, we want them participating, and we absolutely don’t want to wrap them in cotton wool at the first sign of a sore muscle. That’s not what this is about.
But there’s a difference between the healthy discomfort of working hard and pain that’s telling you something is wrong. The “no pain, no gain” mentality has its place in adult sport, and even then, only up to a point. It’s not a great framework for growing bodies where unmanaged injuries can affect development.
The goal is keeping kids active and on the field, and the best way to do that is usually to address problems early rather than pushing through them. A quick assessment that confirms everything is fine costs very little. An injury that’s been ignored for months is considerably more complicated to manage. You can read more about our approach to sports podiatry here.
How Hurst Podiatry can help
We work with kids regularly and know how to make an assessment comfortable and straightforward for them. We’ll look at how they walk, check the foot and lower limb properly, and give you a clear picture of what’s going on and what to do about it.Book an appointment with the team at Hurst Podiatry today. Because the sooner you know, the sooner they’re back out there doing what they love.
