Fall Youth Soccer Season Brings on Ankle Injuries

Skeletally immature kids, starting and stopping and moving side to side on cleats that are little more than moccasins with spikes – that’s a recipe for foot and ankle sprains and worse.

Kids will play with lingering, nagging heel pain that, upon testing, turns out to be a stress fracture that neither they, their parents nor their coaches were aware of.  By playing with pain, they can’t give their team 100 percent and make their injuries worse, which prolongs their time out of soccer.

Stress fractures can be subtle – they don’t always show up on initial x-rays.

Symptoms of stress fractures include pain during normal activity and when touching the area, and swelling without bruising. Treatment usually involves rest and sometimes casting. Some stress fractures heal poorly and often require surgery, such as a break in the elongated bone near the little toe, known as a Jones fracture.

Soccer is a very popular sport in our community, but the constant running associated with it places excessive stress on a developing foot. Pain from overuse usually stems from inflammation, such as around the growth plate of the heel bone, more so than a stress fracture. Their growth plates are still open and bones are still growing and maturing – until they’re about 13 to 16. Rest and, in some cases, immobilization of the foot should relieve that inflammation.

Other types of overuse injuries are Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis (heel pain caused by inflammation of the tissue extending from the heel to the toes).

Quick, out-of-nowhere ankle sprains are also common to soccer. Ankle sprains should be evaluated by a physician to assess the extent of the injury. If the ankle stays swollen for days and is painful to walk or even stand on, it could be a fracture.

Collisions between soccer players take their toll on toes. When two feet are coming at the ball simultaneously, that ball turns into cement block and goes nowhere. The weakest point in that transaction is usually a foot, with broken toes the outcome.  The toes swell up so much the player can’t get a shoe on, which is a good sign for young athletes and their parents: If they are having trouble just getting a shoe on, they shouldn’t play.

Author

Kevin D. Myer DPM, FACFAS Dr. Myer is a Podiatric Foot & Ankle Surgeon, Board-Certified in Reconstructive Foot & Ankle Surgery by the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. A native of Carrollton, Texas, Dr. Myer has been practicing in the North Dallas area since 2007. Voted by his medical peers as a "Top Doc" in the City of Dallas and Collin County annually since 2013, Dr. Myer strives to keep all of his patients in the game and off the sidelines of life through both conservative and surgical means when necessary. Dr. Myer is happily married to Lainie (going on 25+ years...) with whom he proudly parents three boys, Cade, Brennan, and Grayson. On the weekends, you might find Dr. Myer attending one of his boys athletic events or behind a camera capturing any number of available subjects.