Lowry O'Mahony

And what happens is the heel bone can grow very quickly.

And we'll all have experienced that when all of a sudden the shoes are really small.

And you're like, how did this happen?

So the heel bone can grow really quickly.

And then the calf muscles and the tendon attaching onto the bone are struggling to catch up.

So where they attach onto the bone, the adolescent or athlete can experience irritation and pain.

So the good news is that you don't have to stop playing sport, but it's all about load management, okay?

And it's looking at how much training is your child or adolescent doing?

And so then can you manage that a little bit?

And then also looking at stretching and flexibility, footwear is another thing to look at, making sure the football boots are correct.

Do you need a lift in the heel?

Yeah, sometimes adding in a heel lift is really useful because it takes the tension off the tendon while the tendon then can lengthen a little bit.

So lots of things you can do.

So is that the main one that you would be worried about when you look at the summer and all of these additional activities or what are the other concerns you have or what do you see coming to you?

Yeah, we see a lot of Osgood-Schlatter's as well.

And that's like 10 to 20 percent of adolescents.

And that's pain at the front of the knee.

And that's a growth related condition as well.

And a lot of these conditions are related to load.

So once again, coming from that maybe season of doing very little and then they're thrilled.