[cherub28]

Hi all,
Just wondered about peoples thoughts on growing pains in children.
DD (11) has been experiencing pain in her knees and elbows on and off over the past 6 months or so. No swelling, no ongoing injuries as such. Her knees hurt at times when she is running, her elbows at times when she leans on her hand with a straight arm. It is very random and unpredictable.
I took her to physio the other day who identified she has weak external rotator muscles in her hips which cause her knees and feet to turn in when she runs, He has given her some exercises to help correct this. But I was just thinking about the times she has mentioned her knees or elbows aching, and also remembered a time when she was about 4 when she got out of bed one morning and couldn't walk for a couple of days because of pain in one of her knees. An x-ray showed nothing and the doctor had no suggestions. Again no swelling.
Has anyone else come across issues like this with their kids?
Could it just be growing pains? Or are they mythical?
Thoughts please?

[ambwrose]

Lots of kids get growing pains, 2 of mine have.
When a child grows the bones grow then the muscles have to catch up so sometime things get a bit sore. Specially near the growth plates.
I encourage warm baths, lots of massages and stretches.

Margaret

[HillmanMinx]

My eldest got absolutely excruciating growing pains between about 3 and 8. She would wake up screaming and I would give her panadol, rub them and try to comfort her until the panadol kicked in - but until the panadol kicked in she would be hysterical. My middle child gets more minor pain, it bothers her but doesn't make her scream.

[binchen]

I had bad pains in my knees when I was a teen. Sometimes I thought I just could Not stand up anymore.

My 3 Year Old has them as well. After a day full of running around she will go to sleep without problems but will wake up in pain after a few hours. I give her the min dosage of panadol.

[*CalamityJane*]

I had similar pains in my knees at the same age. They were fobbed off as growing pains by the GP. It wasn't. Please keep up with the physio - if she has a muscular weakness that she can correct now she can avoid the later surgeries and permanent damage that I now have.

My DD (8) has growing pains from time to time. It's almost always in her shins and happens at night. DH experienced the same thing as a child. Totally different to the type of knee pain I was getting at 11.

This post has been edited by *CalamityJane*: 13/08/2012, 12:22 AM

[HillmanMinx]

the knee pain could have been osgood schlatters - I had that - it was a sh*t of a thing. Its basically when you grow too fast for your tendons that attach your shin to your knee, to keep up... then it tears a bit of the shin bone instead of stretching the tendon. fun.

[bluedragon]

I had growing pains as a child. Never in my joints though. Shins and forearms were the worst. Had to go to the doctor about them a couple of times. They were like really strong aches.

What your DD is describing doesn't sound like growing pains to me, I'd talk to your physio more about it.

[tothebeach]

She would wake up screaming and I would give her panadol, rub them and try to comfort her until the panadol kicked in - but until the panadol kicked in she would be hysterical.

Exactly the same for DS2 - he is in agony and cannot be comforted. Nurafen is what works for us. He has very tight calves and this seems to make things worse. I thought it was a myth till I saw the relief that Nurafen brings to DS2.

In terms of knees - I had an athroscopy (sp) on both knees when I was 13 to relieve some bad pain in my knees. That was 30 years ago for me now so I don't remember the ins and outs but I remember my surgeon saying it was very common in teenage girls.

This post has been edited by tothebeach: 13/08/2012, 08:26 AM

[~mimo~]

the knee pain could have been osgood schlatters - I had that - it was a sh*t of a thing. Its basically when you grow too fast for your tendons that attach your shin to your knee, to keep up... then it tears a bit of the shin bone instead of stretching the tendon. fun.

The Dr thought I had this. But then I was told I had growing pains. Anti inflammatory gel (I guess it was that) helped.

DD6 had them this week in her ankle.

[mumto3princesses]

DD2 (now 8.5yrs) had what the Dr said was growing pains a few years back. She would go to bed and scream and scream because her legs were aching. It was always when she went to bed and never during the day. It seemed to be a different spot each time. Poor thing was in so much pain. Dr said it was just growing pains and to give panadol and hot pack helped too. It finally went away but came back again about a year later and we saw the Dr again about it and he told us there had been a study that showed if they are low in iron it can present like growing pains. DD2 was tested and was low in iron. She had an iron supplement for a few months and they went away. So far so good.

I had problems with my knees as a child. I would even fall over in the playgorund while just standing there with my friends. One minute I would be standing there talking to them and the next minute I would be on the ground. My mum took me to the Drs about it but was told I was just being stupid and there was nothing wrong with my knees. So, basically mum believed the Dr that I was just making it up and I had to deal with it for years and years. When I was older I actually decided to speak to my new Dr about my knee problems and I discovered yes there is actually something wrong and it has some big name that I forget. But basically, I have weak muscles behind my kneecaps and if I don't do exercises for them all the time then they get weak again and my knees will give way or try to give way while I walk.