Growing pains? How have your kids described these? At what age does this happen?

[rafiki]

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[JudoMom]

I've heard of them, but my oldest has never said anything. My middle ds is 7, but tall for his age, and the past couple weeks has been saying he gets pain on the back side of his knee area. They actually woke him up last night. My first thought was leg cramps, but the location is odd and these also happen while he's been awake and moving. When it happens he has difficulty raising or straightening his leg. I do give him Kid's Tums for calcium because he eats very little dairy (youngest is allergic to it) and he drinks a ton of water each day. Would you take him to the ped or give it a little more time?

 

Growing pains are typically in the bones (not the joints) from what I understand, but I wouldn't rule out growing pains as a possiblity.

 

Is the pain in both legs? Is it red, swollen, or warm to the touch?

[gingersmom]

My daughter was having pain in her chest area and I took her to the doctor. She said it was growing pains (plus ran tests).

 

My daughter has since had growing pains. Plus she grew several inches over the summer.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin gets pain in his knees, which his doctor describes a growing pains. There's a technical name for the diagnosis but it's caused by growth: there's a mismatch between how fast his skeleton and his muscle/tendon system are growing, leading to strain and soreness.

 

Laura

[lionfamily1999]

You could try stretching. Like Laura said, if his bones are growing faster than his tendons that would explain the pain where you're describing it. Stretching before bed and when he gets up may help.

 

Ds gets pain in the middle of his longer bones :( It stinks, because there's just not much to do about it. Sometimes he'll take a hot bath (something else you might try), but really... it's just one of those things that will pass.

[rafiki]

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[PinkInTheBlue]

I especially remember the pain in my shins, and it was almost always at night. Both of my bigger guys have had bone or joint aches here and there that I'd definitely say is "growing pains". They've seemed to have to have it around 11 to 13. More might come later. We'll see. That's also when I remember having mine.

[happyWImom]

My dd (7) has had terrible growing pains for about a year. The main area is her knee, specifically one knee. I did take her in, because she had so many complaints about it, and they did an xray. It came out fine. But, she still gets them off & on quite a bit.

[JudoMom]

it seems he walks differently because of the pain, thus causing the other leg to hurt too. It is not red, swollen, or warm. I can massage that area and he's not sensitive to it being touched. He says heat and ice help though.

 

I'd vote growing pains, then, or possibly an injury (could he have hyperextended it?)

[CookieMonster]

I remember growing pains. Boy, do I ever. It was awful. I had them on and off for several years. My legs would just ache. I noticed it mostly at bedtime and during the night.

 

I grew a whole lot in a short period. I was my full height by age 13.

 

My father remembers similar growing pains. My husband remembers having them too - and he's average height and never had a great growth spurt.

[rafiki]

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[Desert Rat]

I hope the doctors find out what's up. My ds6 is in the 100% for height and complains of growing pains only at night and in the shins. Sometimes, he ends up with muscle cramps too because the medicine he's on for asthma robs the body of potassium. We up his potassium and it helps but not consistently.

I'll be thinking of you and your ds and hoping everything turns out okay.

[Truscifi]

My doctor said I had growing pains when I was a kid, but I never grew out of it. Turns out I actually have lax joints (the ligaments aren't as tight as they should be, so the joints shift some which causes muscle irritation). I'm not saying your dc has this, but just that doctors are sometimes quick to write things off.

 

Ds5 has already started complaining of pain in his legs (he DID grow .5 inch in the last 4 months). If it continues I will be asking his ped for xrays/MRI.