What is it about ?
Growing pains are mild pains in the legs of children aged 3 to 8 years, for which no cause can be established. Stress and abnormally mobile joints can explain this pain.
What is their frequency?
Between the ages of 4 and 6, almost one in three children suffers from growing pains. These pains are often familial. They rarely affect children under 3 years old. If the child is less than 3 years old, other causes must be sought.
How to recognize them?
Pain usually occurs in both legs. They sometimes alternate between left and right. The child most often feels pain in the evening and at night, but usually not in the morning. The pain mainly affects the bones of the leg (the tibia and fibula) and the hollow of the knee. In the morning, the pain is usually gone. Pain is only felt at rest, never during exercise. However, some children may experience stiffness after physical exertion. The pain lasts from 30 minutes to 5 hours.
How is the diagnosis made?
The doctor asks precisely when and where the child feels the pain. The diagnosis is almost always made on the fact that a clinical examination of the child cannot induce pain. If the pain is also present in the morning, if it affects only one leg, if it is constant, if it is present during exercise, if the child is limping or if the pain is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, fatigue and weight loss, a complete blood test is always done to rule out other diseases. X-ray exams are usually not helpful, except after an accident or when the pain is clearly localized to one place.
What can you do ?
Growing pains are not a disease. They are normal in the course of growth. They are benign and disappear spontaneously. Local application of heat (hot pockets, hot bath) and massage can calm them. In severe cases, paracetamol can relieve them, given as a single dose of 15 mg per kilogram of body weight.
What can your doctor do?
The doctor will mainly think about other causes of pain and check that other conditions are not present. That is why he will do a routine blood test if the pain persists. If the results are reassuring, he will monitor the progress of the pain.
Want to know more?
- Blood test explained to children – plaster
- Paracetamol – CBIP – Belgian Center for Pharmacotherapeutic Information
Source