There are a few possible causes of heel pain in kids. One possibility is that he/she has a wart on the bottom of the heel. Other possibilities include fractures or tendon injury. Another possibility is something called (believe it or not) "calcaneal apophysitis", or "Sever's Disease".
As far as a wart is concerned, please take a look at that page.
This page will deal with Sever's Disease. Not a disease at all, but essentially a bruised growth plate at the back of the heel, where the Achilles tendon attaches to the bone. When children become around 8 years old (possibly older), a couple of things happen. First, they get bigger and heavier, and they tend to become more active. At the same time, the body is starting to change the back of the heel bone from cartilage to bone. Before this time, the Achilles tendon was pulling on cartilage, which is very forgiving - but now it's pulling on bone, which doesn't give as well. This bone then pulls on the growth plate that attaches the back of the heel to the rest of the heel bone. And THAT'S what causes the pain. It may be burning, aching or sharp. It will usually be worse after running - say in a game. Sometimes the pain becomes bad enough that the child stops playing.
Once the diagnosis has been made, various treatments can be tried. Among these are physical therapy, shoe padding, heel lifts, arch supports, pills (like children's Tylenol), topical creams such as Aspercreme, CryoDerm or BioFreeze, reducing physical activity, and orthotics to control the way he/she walks and runs. If all else fails, putting a cast on for a couple of weeks may help - but this approach is VERY unusual. This is generally NOT a surgical problem, and shots are not indicated. Will this painful condition get better? YES - but only with time and proper treatment. At the very least, when the growth plate finally closes, the pain leaves. Meanwhile, patience is required.
