Brisbane Foot and Orthotics
NDIS
clinical podiatry assessment matters for active, growing kids

Why a clinical assessment matters for active, growing kids

Saturday morning. Your kid finishes the warm-up, makes it through the first quarter, then comes off favouring one leg. You’ve been here before. You ice it, rest it, and by Monday they’re fine; until Thursday training, when it starts again.

At some point, “It’s just growing pains” no longer cuts it. Some lower limb pain in active kids has a specific cause and an evidence-based treatment pathway. That’s what a clinical podiatry assessment is for. 

What’s happening inside a growing body

Some aspects of adolescent growth are very visible. Your grocery bill shows the cost of meeting your kid’s insatiable appetite; they’ve outgrown most of their clothes, and you can see that they’ll be taller than you before much longer. They’re increasingly independent in some ways, yet still surprisingly immature in others. 

That uneven development is happening inside their body too. Bones can lengthen faster than the muscles and tendons attached to them, creating a temporary mismatch that places increased strain on the feet, heels, knees and lower legs. 

Growth plates — areas of developing cartilage at the ends of bones — are structurally weaker than the nearby ligaments and tendons, and can be irritated by repeated force.  Kids who train regularly put their lower limbs through hundreds of foot strikes, jumps and direction changes per session, repeating that loading many times across a season. 

Is it growing pains or something else? 

True growing pains are typically felt in both legs, occur in the evening or at night, and are gone by morning. If your child’s pain is one-sided, aggravated by training, or always in the same spot, then it’s worth seeing a podiatrist. 

Teen lower limb pain tends to emerge when factors converge: a growth spurt means the soft tissues are struggling to keep pace with longer bones, while increased training puts extra load on the musculoskeletal system. 

Underlying biomechanical issues may also begin to have an effect. Common contributors include:

  • Overpronation, where the foot rolls inward and alters how force travels through the ankle and knee
  • Limited ankle dorsiflexion, which increases strain through the calf and heel
  • Pelvic and hip changes during growth, which can affect knee tracking
  • Rotational differences in the thigh, shin or foot
  • Leg-length asymmetries that create uneven load across the lower limb during repetitive activity. 

A comprehensive assessment of adolescent foot and knee symptoms 

At Brisbane Foot & Orthotics, we look for the full picture, not just the site of pain. Our podiatry assessments for active adolescents consider your child’s: 

  • Recent growth
  • Sport type and training load
  • Biomechanics
  • Footwear
  • Symptom history. 

We use video and 3D gait analysis to examine movement patterns, such as foot strike, ankle mechanics, and knee tracking, when walking and running. These objective findings help guide diagnosis and orthotic prescription if necessary. 

Conditions commonly identified through assessment

Several conditions regularly attributed to growing pains have identifiable causes and respond to targeted management. Some of them have entertaining names too!

Heel pain

Sever’s disease is the most common cause of heel pain in active kids aged 8–15. The Achilles tendon exerts repeated traction on the heel growth plate during running and jumping. During a growth spurt, that pull intensifies because the heel bone lengthens faster than the tendon can adapt.

Knee pain

Osgood-Schlatter disease causes pain and swelling just below the kneecap, where the patellar tendon attaches to the shinbone. It tends to flare during growth spurts and is common in adolescents playing sports that involve running, jumping or kicking.

Another culprit could be patellofemoral pain (runner’s knee). This produces kneecap pain during and after sport, linked to alignment changes and loading patterns that shift as the body grows.

Pain in the shins or lower back leg

Medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints) and Achilles tendon pain also present frequently in this age group, both with a clear biomechanical thread that assessment can follow.

Evidence-based management options

The goal, in every case, is to keep your child as active as possible without causing pain while their body finishes growing.

Depending on our assessment findings, we may:

  • Prescribe children’s orthotics, which we custom design in-house to address identified loading patterns and support growing feet during sport 
  • Advise on load management, such as training volume, recovery and sport-specific modifications during growth phases
  • Adjust footwear using heel wedges or identifying more supportive shoes that better suit your child’s feet
  • Create a targeted exercise plan to improve strength and mobility in the hips, knees, calves, ankles or feet. 
  • Refer your child for imaging, specialist input or other allied health involvement if necessary. 

No two assessments produce the same plan because no two young athletes are growing at the same rate, training the same way, or presenting with the same contributing factors.

Book a paediatric podiatry assessment in Brisbane

If you have a growing child who is regularly complaining of pain in the same place, then we recommend a podiatry assessment. Growing is a complex process and sometimes triggers a clinical condition that responds well to podiatry treatment, making it easier for your child to continue staying fit and active. 

Come and see us at Daisy Hill, Eight Mile Plains and North Lakes.

Book an assessment with Brisbane Foot & Orthotics

 

Disclaimer

All information is general and not intended as a substitute for professional advice.  

References [Accessed 7 July 2026]