Growing Pains?

Repeat after me, "There is no such thing as growing pains!" Growing doesn't have to be painful! What your child is needing is calcium! Do not get it from milk (milk is not good for you).

This happen/happens to my son and to a friend of mine. I do herbs, my friend doesn't, but she was at a loss as well and I told her that her son needed calcium from a good source. I told her about Kid-E-Calc, which is an extract....my son won't take the extract, but I got him some calcium tablets. Anyway, to her amazement, his pain subsided and when they were lax in taking it, his pain came back. He just needs calcium. My 2nd son is currently 9 and by the way is our only cow milk drinker and lacks in calcium. (I've been restricting his milk and his leg pains are nearly non-existent.) Taking his calcium tablets keep the pain away...he forgets to take it sometimes and does fine for a while and when the pain starts and he is crying due to the pain, I ask him if he took his calcium...knowing the answer is no already. He resumes taking it.

So, yes my son went through this for quite some time before I figured this out.

Just another note...teething pain for babies is also due to lack of calcium. My kids never had such trouble with it, but I've had some friends whose kids did and all they did was rub some Kid-E-Calc on the babies gums and they were relieved.

You can get some form of calcium at all health food stores and even Wal Mart. If you are wanting the extracts, you'll need to go to a local health food store (which is not GNC). If you want to order online the very one that I'm talking about, you can find it at www.herbsfirst.com or at www.worldhealthdepot.com. Just a note though...Kid-E-Calc only comes in a vinegar base. I'm sure you can find another brand that isn't.

I really hope this helps. It has helped us out tremendously! I used to think there was something wrong and that (I have a vivid imagination.) he was developing cancer or something....but so glad that it was just a simple remedy. I hope he lives pain free soon.

1 mom found this helpful

D., I agree with Donna H. When I read your post it was the first thing I thought of! She is dead on!! We don't do cow milk at all and my boys (7 & 4) rarely have the problem! However, there have been a few times when my oldest, when going thru a growth spurt, would complain of leg & other strange pains. It usually happens a few days after I've run out of our calcium supplements and haven't made it to the store yet!

Understand that most of what I'm about to tell you, and Donna H. has said, your Dr. probably won't know much if anything about and if you tell her she may tell you we are nuts! I was first told about this by a friend of mine who is a chiropractor w/4 kids! She highly recommends a good calcium supplement for all kids and in higher doses for those who eat dairy.

When they were babies and going thru the pain of teething issues I used a liquid calcium from a company called Life Time. They make it in strawberry, blueberry, & pina colada flavors so you can find one that your kid will like. You can get it at most good health food stores. When I didn't live near a good locally owned health food store I could always get it at Vitamin World. Now we use Animal Parade Vanilla Sundae flavored chewables but as my boys get older I am thinking I am going to need to get one with more calcium to meet their growth needs.

If he's in pain when you start the supplements you will probably have to give him more than the "recommended" dose to start with and as you notice the symptoms decrease or disappear you can cut back. Unless his pain comes back, then play with it until you find the dose that works best for him.

In the mean time, my chiro friend says that she will give her kids childrens tylenol for pain when it's so severe they can't sleep, etc. until the calcium kicks in. She agrees that as a mom you can't just sit there and watch your child suffer when you have something that will make it better!

Hope this helps! L.

1 mom found this helpful

I had this growing up, my husband had it, and my son now has it. I have a very bad memory of my dad saying it was "all in my head". Anyway, I used to put a heating pad on it when I was young; and my husband's parents used rubbing alcohol. We use both with my son. I have always wondered if it had to do with circulation and/or sleep devrivation, because when I was young; if I went to a sleepover and didn't get much sleep; my legs would always hurt the next day.

My son's leg (or legs) usually hurts late in the day so I always tell him he needs sleep. Once he goes to bed and wakes up the next morning, they feel ok. I've never thought of the calcium thing - my son drinks alot of milk; but I never drank milk coming up. And we both have it? Makes me wonder.

My husband and I still have it from time to time. Usually when we are very tired or have been doing too much.

The heating pad really does help. Just wrap it around the leg and tie the strings.

It IS in fact growing pains. My husband and his mother use to tell me how she had to rub rubbing alcohol on his legs and message it in to relieve his pains.She said his come from running so much as a child that his legs would start to throb and ache in the middle of the night.Try using some rubbing alcohol.

Hi D.; When our daughter was 5 yrears old and in kindergarten she had this exact problem (she's 54 now!). We
took her to all kinds of drs and they could find nothing, like you said, except growing pains. When one dr questioned her about her daily activities she mentioned that the teacher
insisted the children sit on the floor in a circle with their
legs folded under them!! He wrote a note to excuse her from this and it was much improved but did not go away until she
was about 8 yrs old and then disappeared. Good luck. I.

Hi D.,

I had growing pains when I was young and my parents took me to a specialist. It turned out I had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. I've grown out of it (I'm 40 yo) but very, very rarely feel the aches in my legs (typically when it's going to rain. Maybe you should find out if it's juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Good luck!

L.

D.,

I can actually still remember having "growing pains" myself. I just remember how bad they would ache and hurt for hours and days on end. My mom would help them by just massaging my legs, warm baths, using heat (not HOT) packs when they were really bad and stretching helped a bit. Fortunately, the doctor was right and I just had to outgrow it, but that answer didn't help me when I was hurting. Hopefully Tylenol or one of the things that helped me will help your son. My heart goes out to him esp. when he's so young and doesn't understand. Best of luck with some remedies that help him!!

I wonder if he drinks enough water? Epsom salts in a warm bath will help the leg cramps (lack of magnesium). And there is a "Pain Free" book by Pete Egoscue that could teach exercises for the plantar idea. Also, www.healthline.cc may be a source of help for you. C. from Georgia

Hi D.,

My husband, who is 6'7" tall, talks of stories like this a lot. My twelve year old daughter is already 5'9" and has had issues also. The best thing we have done is the same that my husband's mom did and that was get her into chiropractic. The bones are meant to grow and it is not painful if they are adjusted regularly. Something as simple as the way we sleep may not affect most of us but if we are growing, we can cause a painful problem is we are kinked up...The chiropractor will probably show you some exercises you can do with your son to stretch the muscles and tendons so there is no soreness.

I also recommend he take a good absorbable multivitamin so his bones and joints are healthy. Make sure it has a good delivery system. If you can't find one, I can recommend the one my daughter took when she was little. There are too many things that can cause bone damage. You have to combat it now. Sodas with phosphoric acid literally eat away bones. Most kids if given a bone scan would already have Osteo Penia, the precursor to Osteoporosis.

Hope I helped some. Let me know if you need more info.

Regards,

M.

Good Evening,
I am not a doctor but I do know a little about the care of feet and legs. I have had to do my own research due to having cancer three times in the left leg and different pains of the legs and feet require different measures. First, I am the one that had the cancer. I do not believe your son has cancer, I was just talking about the pain issues. Now, several years ago I came across a book at a yard sale that has been one of my biggest blessings. It was called the Folklore of West Virginia. It spoke about apple cider vinegar. Boy has this been a blessing. I have drank it since and it has helped me with water retention, stabilizing my sugar, pain due to cramping. It is used with honey so that the potassium that is actually stored in the bones can be made to go back into the blood stream to be utilized by the body. I drink 1/2 to 1 tbs.of each honey and the cider in about 10 ounces of water. I started my daughter on this when she was young and she has really grown to appreciate the effects. Becareful not to over do because the body has to be replenished with what it has used but you will notice a difference within a couple of days. Also, I have used this other book for years called prescription for nutritional healing.This book has also been a blessing. Note I am not a doctor and just have my experiences to go by so please use your own discretion.
Also, I think you are doing just fine with the doctor. If you feel comfortable with her than I would stick with her. I believe that half the battle of health is a good relationship with your doctor. I also pray that she is open minded. This shows that there is room for growth and that she is readable and teachable. I believe it is good to bounce ideas off your doctor and see if they are receptive to studies and things that you have come across in your studies. Health is not a competition of who is right in the macro world, it is a competition to keep the cells healthy in a micro world.
Hope this helps.
A.

In response to your question about growing pains. I have a friend whose son had the same problem. The podiatrist she took him told her to have inserts made for his shoes. He needed to wear a shoe with a lot of support in it for his arches. She was also told to limit his running and jumping, when he was running and jumping a lot the pain would increase.

A little about me:
I am a divorced single mom to two boys, 4 and 7. I moved to Greenville about a year ago.

I had similar issues growing up. Part of it was growing pains, and part of it I found out later was due to having vascular issues. The vascular issue was nothing serious, it just turns out that my blood vessels severely constrict when my body temperature drops which causes pain, muscle spasms, and loss of circulation. (It's called Raynauds Phenomenon.) Most people's body temperature naturally drops when they are sleeping, which causes less blood to flow to the arms and legs. Which, for me, sometimes means waking up with pain in my legs and that dreaded "pins and needles" stabbing sensation in my feet.
I don't know if that's what's going on with your son, but it sounded familiar to me.
If you haven't already, try putting a heating pad or electric blanket on his legs when he is sleeping. Even if it's not a vascular issue, a little extra warmth can comfort a multitude of aches and pains.
However, if it is Plantar fasciitis, I found these tips: According to the Mayo Clinic's website, you can apply an ice pack for 15 to 20 minutes, or try massaging the area with ice. Also, to keep the feet elevated when the pain is severe, add arch supports to the shoes, try acrupressure techniques (applying pressure to the heel by rolling a golf ball with the arch of the foot while you are standing and stabilized), or simply stretching the arch of the foot.
Hope some of that is helpful to you, and I hope he's feeling better soon! Good luck!

My seven year old has gone through the same thing just about his entire life. In fact, there have been times that he preferred crawling to walking just because it eased the pain. Needless to say, we were concerned as well. They did end up being growing pains, which he still continues to have. Before, we just treated with motrin (it seems to be more effective for the pain than tylenol does). When they are worse, though, we give him tylenol and then rub the areas that are most painful with some Deep Heating Rub (made by Mentholatim), which helps give relief a little faster and is safe to use on children.

D.,

My son is now 11 and no longer complains about his legs, but he did experience the same problem for years. It was bad on days that he did a lot of running or playing. His pediatritian told us the same thing, that it was growing pains and we believed him because he is an excellent doctor. I gave my son Advil or Tylenol. Stretching exercises may also help if you can get your 5 year old to do them. I think the complaining stopped around the age of 8.

D. -

My 3 1/2 yr old son has also been complaining of a "Foot Ache" or waking up in the middle of the night complaining of pain. We usually use Ibuprofen to stop the pain. We talked to my Mother in law, (who is the mother of 5 boys and 2 girls)and she said to try giving him a banana before bed - it worked for her boys. So we have tried that and it has seemed to work. I think it is the potassium in the banana that helps.

H.-
Mom of 2, one here on earth and one Angel in Heaven

I would, at the very least, get a second opinion. That doesn't mean you have to change pediatricians. A friend had a child with a problem similiar to where he was getting "charlie horse" type cramps in his legs and feet. He wound up having a pinched nerve near his 4th and 5th vertebrae in his lower back. It was mostly his left leg as well. They were able to do physical therapy to fix it. I hope your son does get better. We all know how painful those cramps can be...If possible, when they do hit, have him walk around and stretch his legs. That does help, as well as childrens vitamins, just in case it is "growing pains" (which is caused by a vitamin deficiancy)

I would without a doubt, try a chiropractor. They can do wonders with any kind of pain!

Okay-- I ahve been 6 ft since middle school and let me tell you I had growing pains. So is he outgrowing his clothes in a month? I grew 2 shoe sizes in a months time. I hurt like crazy. Tip from my grammy...Let hom eat fruit. Vitamins from it are good for bones. Balance with dairy so as not to give diarrhea. He need calcium and lots of sunlight. That sound silly but certain rays from the sun are good for calcium absorbtion. My grammmy said a nice warm not hot bath helped me when I hurt really bad. she said sometimes she would slip some oils in there but she said it was just for the skin. But seriously all kids have some type of growing pains. Sunlight and vitamins help the body prepare itself for the big changes happening. I ate bananas like they were going out of style and it did ease up. Hang in there and pray!! Remember the MOM Montra >>>>THIS TOOO SHALL PASS!! One day he will be a tall star basketball player and you'll look back and laugh!!
Good Luck!

D. F,
Both of my brother's boys had this. For them it was growing pains - all my brother would do is rub them - give their legs a message. It seemed to help a little bit. I have 2 girls and I have not experience it yet. I know that my youngest nephew had it worse than the older one. Hope this helps!!!!

My kids all had this to some degree also but I would take him to an orthopedic pediatric physician. My son (born with bilateral clubfoot) sees Dr. McCartney in Savannah (Southeastern Orthopedic). He is a pediatric specialist and is really sweet. I don't think you are overreacting getting a specialist opinion just to be on the safe side. I think you are doing everything you can and if pain medication isn't enough (warm compresses help my kids btw) you definately need to have it checked just to be safe.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

HTH
Mesha

I remember when I was a kid. I had an awful pain in my hip. I thought I was dying. Remember I was a kid. And my parents took me to the ER and thats all they said it was too. Just growing pains. I always wondered how they could be so painful but i was always the tallest girl in my class until high school so it makes sense.

Hi D.,
The same thing happend to my friend's son and it turned out that it was due to a reaction to a milk protien. She switched his diet around a bit and he has been fine ever since. I included her name and e-mail below. I will tell her that I gave you her info incase you want to contact her directly.
B.

Aline - ____@____.com

One possibility that is easy to check out. Be sure your son is adequately hydrated with water. If he is borderline dehydrated, he could be having simple muscle cramps which can occur if potassium is low. Bananas and oranges will help replace potassium. Your doc has probably already checked that out but some people are more prone or sensitive to having muscle cramps and it can't hurt to increase his water and give him a half banana daily.

If it is plantar fasciitis, perhaps daily massaging of his feet and arch might help plus he would love the personal attention. :) Good luck.

Hi D.,
Sorry for my late reply - I had to contact my mom for help with this one. My brother (now 30) had a LOT of trouble with 'growing pains' in his legs as a boy. He would often wake up in pain and my dad massaged his legs night after night to try to give him some relief. Mom tried many doctors but the only diagnosis was 'growing pains'. They tried orthotics but it didn't make a great difference. The only thing that really seemed to help was exercise. My brother still needs to exercise regularly to keep his legs comfortable - he plays team sports and works out at the gym. His discomfort now doesn't compare with the pain he experienced as a child but he definitely has a weakness there. I hope your son's pains stop soon but if they continue, perhaps some daily exercise may help.

Hi D.,
We as women have to be very mentally strong for our children and mate. Whenever your mate gets angry and tell you tha tyou are not during enough, just remember to tell yourself that is anger speaking and not really him. In order for you not to take it personally.

That mindset is important...now you need additional mental strength for your son (and you can have both). I would strongly suggest to study the pattern of epiodes. Meaning, does he experience pain in the morning, noon or night...does he experience pain when he eats certain food, or get active, etc. There is always a pattern that tells us stories about our body. We just have to learn how to tune into our bodies. In this case, your son's body to discover the pattern. That would put you in a better position to obtain a proper diagnois from the doctor. Remember, in most cases then not, doctors diagnosis us based upon what we tell them how we feel about a situation. Wishing you in your family the best. LJB

My nephew had these when he was growing up, and my 6 year old does too. It seems to be the worst from ages 4-6 and a little less often after that. Both of theirs were same areas...leg/foot/ankle area. It is difficult to watch your child be so uncomfortable, but it is obviously very common. If you have a good pediatriian that you trust and your kids love, I certainly wouldn't switch doctors just because yours isn't telling you something is wrong. It sounds as though you have had a lot of things (x-rays, etc.) done and it just backs up the doctor. Give it time and see if it gets to be less often. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Hope this helps!
K.

D.,
I have a 7 year old boy who has experienced the same thing for a couple of years now. As you said, it seems to come in "spurts" or if he has had a "very active" day, baseball game, etc. Doctors can't find anything wrong, and even my 42 year old brother had these same pains when we were growing up. I think it is more common in boys and I have found that tylenol and leg massages help. If I can give my son a dose of Tylenol and then put him to bed and massage the painful leg, (they never both hurt at the same time!), he seems to relax and the pain goes away. I will tell you that he will be eight in about a month and it has gotten much better in the last 6 months. Maybe it is just something they have to grow out of??? Good luck with your son!!

A.

take him to the mount sinai hospital in NEW YORK CITY they will except his insurance and they have a special unit for children with simular problems.they saved my step son's leg they also did a great job on my bio son who broke his femer.they will get to the bottom of whatever it is so tell your husband to give the plane tickets so u can take him.

Oh my goodness! Wow...yes...yes...I know what that's all about. Being almost 6' myself and experiencing those pains, I know what you're going through with your son. My son too has gone through it. He shot up almost 1 ft. in one year, as did I when I was 13. Hang in there cause there is nothing you can do about it but to endure it and enjoy watching your baby grow. Enjoy!

An orthopedist is covered and could figure it out.In Savannah Dr donald McCartney of Southeatrn orthopedics on DeRenne ###-###-#### is the best.My son has brittle bone disease which is rare.

I think my son goes though this too. Although he doesn't complain about pain, he often says his feet are "hot". It mostly happens at night when he is asleep. I ask him to describe it but he always just says they are hot. He has been complaining about this for about 2-3 years. We have asked his pediatrician about it and she says it is just growing pains and that hot is only way he can describe it. I hope your son outgrows this soon!!!

Hello D.,
I remember having these alot while I was growing up, even through my teens. Their like muscle spasms in your legs and I know they hurt like heck. What I always did that helped releived the pain and I tell my 15 year old this, is just get out of bed and stand up till it goes away. It will stretch out that muscle and relieve itself more quickly then laying there. I have always heard they were "growing pains" too.

Hope this helps.

S. :)

I am now 47 years old and I can recall having them when I was growing up. That is exactly what my mother called it "growing pains". She would stretch us and message us but avoide the pills if it was at all possible. She maintained that drinking plenty of water would help reduce it's occurrence.

In this day and age however, we can take nothing for granted and if you could afford it, I don't think it would be hurting your pedeiatrician at all to get a second opinion.
For years I was told that I was allergic to Augmentin. My doctor told me that I should put it on my chart wherever I go - and so I did. Until I went to an emergency clinic one night for the flu and the doctor wanted to give me Augmentin. I told him that I was allergic to it. He enquired as to what actually happened to me why I thought I was allergic to it, only to discover that I was not "allergic" but had a bad reaction to it which he expected and gave me something to block the reaction and I have been using it ever since. So always double check - especially with your children. Loyalty alone to no doctor can keep our kids alive and well. Second opinion please!

Hopefully he has been checked for this but sickle cell also causes pain like you are describing but it is more prevalent in african americans (not sure of your race)and can be very serious.

My baby sister had this growing up (she is now 22). It is called growing pains. She would complain that her legs felt hot and they hurt. We would just massage her and we used icy/hot, both methods seemed to ease the pain. She grew out of it (no pun intended). There was nothing that a doctor could do 15 years ago and I doubt if there is anything that they can do about it now (remember we are still in the stone age of having our breast squeezed together for a mammogram so I doubt if they would do a study on pains in the legs on healthy children). LOL.

Hubby should not overreact. Perhaps those natural cures will work as suggested by the two other women (we had no idea about that when my sster was little). Please let the Mamasource family know how that works if you do it. I would be curious to know as I have a 4 year old who may or maynot experience this and I would like to be prepared if there IS another way to relief. SMILE!

Hi D.,

I had the same terrible growing pains as a child & what helped the most was my mom or dad would massage Asorbine Jr. into my legs & feet at bedtime or when I woke up from the pains. Asorbine Jr. is the green liquid stuff with a kind of menthol smell & that when massaged into my legs & feet really helped with the pain. Eventually I grew out of the pains (ended up at 5'10") & I guess it's just something that you have to suffer through knowing it will end eventually. Hope this helps a little. Good luck :)

B. Whitehurst

My 3-1/2 year old gets them, especially at night. I still remember getting them as a child and remember how badly they hurt. What worked for me and seems to provide some relief for her, is a hot bath and a massage.

My oldest son went through the exact same thing between the ages of 4-8. He would wake up screaming in pain with severe "charlie horses" in his legs. We would have to rub the muscles to try and get them to relax. Like you said, it happens most when he's going through a "growing spurt" the same was true for my son. My son is now 21, and is 6'9" tall!! He still remembers those "growing pains" and how much they hurt, but thats all they are, growing pains, and nothing more to be worried about.

I am now 40+ years old and can vividly remember "growing pains" I remember being bedridden because the pain was so great! I know my mom rubbed my legs with BenGay, we used heating pads, anything! There is no medical cause for it (I now work for a doctor and check these things out!) Your som will grow out of it, he is not faking it- it really hurts! Ben Gay worked great, also try putting a towel in the microwave for 30-40 seconds as a portable heating pad- it works well too! Hang in there, it isn't a permanent thing and I have no scars or permanent damage, just vivid memories!
M.

Wow, that's exactly what I've been going through with my 3 1/2 year old. After lots of research, it seems that it really is from "growing pains." Evidently, when a child hits a growth spurt, they need more nutrients (duh!). It's the lack of nutrients (specifically, the lack of minerals) that causes the "pain." I read a suggestion that said to concentrate on calcium. My daughter gets a cheese stick as her evening snack (sometimes yogurt or cottage cheese), and this has helped tremendously. Good luck!

I have always heard (used to work for a pharmacy) that potassium is great for leg pain. I encourage my 6 yr old daughter to eat bananas all the time b/c she also suffers from growing pains. It may not work - but it is worth a shot - good luck!

Hi I am a mom of 4, 3 of them are adults 1 is a teenager.While I will admit I do not know everything, I am confident in saying that if you trust your childrens doctor and you feel comfortable then it is most likely just what the doctor says.My 2 boys went through pains in there legs and my grandson is going through it know and they also did x-rays on him.It is fine and he will grow out of it about the same time as he realizes that girls don't have cooties LOL on kidding.I am also a worry wart when it comes to my kids so don't be to hard on him, what I have been told over and over is to trust my instints we have a 6th sense when it comes to our kids.

Hi there~
Both of my children (boy 9 and girl 4) experience "growing pains". They get them when the go thru a growth spurt and also if they are very active that day. They are both very active but if we do alot of physical activity, especially a long bike ride, then they get them also. I usually just give them tylenol and rub their legs. It seems to do the trick for us.

Hi D.,
I have experienced the same thing with my son. When he was 3, I had to take him to the ER because he woke up one morning and could not walk. He could only pull himself along on the floor. It was so pathetic looking, I was so sad. I thought maybe he had fallen out of bed during the night, but there were no marks. Of course the hostpital had their own questions for me. But I was nervous because he has sickle cell trait, so I didn't know if it had anything to do with that. The hospital had no advice or reason why this had happened, so we wrote it off as growing pains. He is 8 now and this has happened about 2 more times with him, although not as severe as the first time. And each time it seemed like he grew an inch or 2 overnight. Hopefully that is all it is with your son. It never happened with my daughter (now 13), but she never had growth spurts like him. Maybe try some warm compresses if it happens again, and tylrnol or motrin. Hope this helps.
Jenni

Hi, D.,
My oldest son, now age 26, did the same thing throughout his childhood. He did outgrow it, but not until he finished growing totally, which was around 20 years old. Other than anti-inflammatories, there wasn't any treatment. Some kids have them and some don't and yes, they are worse when they are in a growth spurt. Hope this helps. It seems to just have to be endured. It was almost nightly for him. As he got older, he'd go a few weeks and then start it nightly again. It's a hard road. It's hard to see your child hurt and not be able to help it go away.

S.

One of my girlfriends' son has growing pains like this very badly as well. It is inheratid (he gets it from his father) and it is also linking with ashma as well which he has and his father had it as a child. They learned this when they took their son to a specialist for what the ER Dr's kept saying was whooping cough!! She has bee told that he will out grow eventually.

No, there isn't much you can do but tylenol, motrion and a lot of TLC. I know she will aslo try to rub his legs when they bother him too.

Good luck!
S.

i would look for a pediatric orthopedic doctor, there is a great group called pediatric orthopedic associates of atlanta. they also have a website. if they don't take your insurance, you can call them and find out who does, i am sure that there are some docs near scottish rite that do. if you don't like what the pediatrician is saying, get a second opinion. it will make you and your husband feel better.
good luck
S. m

Good morning,

My son (15) and daughter (11) both have growing pains. My sons are more severe than my daughters. (My husband and I both experienced growing pains when we were little) Along with the Ibuprofin/Tylenol we have found that sitting in a tub of warm (almost hot) water helps relieve the pain. Massaging the legs and applying a topical muscle rub also helps. We have spend MANY nights doing the above. My heart goes out to any little one who experiences "growing pains". Good luck and we'll pray for your little one.

For years I lived with leg pain, and some back pain and my doctor treated it with medication for the pain, and called it arthritis. I went to another doctor, FINALLY, and he had me go get an MRI. Turned out that I had a tear in my disc and that was what was causing the pain. I love my doctor but I'm sticking with the new one. He had a little more knowledge than the her, and I still love her and will see her for regular visits.

My son is now 7 and still has leg pains on sometimes too. When he was three we went to occupational therapy and she taught us some leg stretches. We then had him fitted for orthotics when he was 4 and this has helped. You need to get them refitted as the foot grows. They do sell some at specialty shoe stores - however we have found that the ones molded to his feet work better. As for other options to help with the pain - we tend to give him leg messages when the pain is really bad. There is a pain relief spray by J.R. Watkins that we really like -however it is not easy to find - except online. Hope this helps-A.

Have you considered Shriner's Hospital? I'm not sure if you need a referal, but if you do, have your doc give you one. Also, they are a free service, so it doesn't matter what insurance you do or don't have. My son (who is now 14) started complaining about leg pain and limping when he was 4 or 5. His 1st doc said it was growing pains. Turns out it was more serious than that. It was a problem with his hip joint. Anyway, since we caught it early while he was young, he did not require surgery, but had to wear a brace for a year and go to therapy. Had yearly checkups after brace came off and am happy to say the docs are so impressed with his recovery that we do not need to see him for 2 more years. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Hey D.,

My nephew who is 14 now went through the samething. My sister use to have him get up and walk around a bit and then go back to bed and it seemed to help. Yes, he eventually grew out of it. My daughter (11 years old) gets similar leg pains and she just lays on her stomach with her legs straight out and she says it makes the pain go away. Men do tend to "overreact" when it comes to their sons. I think it's a male thing. LOL! Anyway try having your son get up and walk a little when he feels pain. Hope my advice helps.

I used to have awful growing pains as a kid too. I liked to put a hot water bottle against the painful joint or area (wrapping it in a moist towel is more comfortable than just the hot plastic against the skin). Especially at bedtime I found it helped with the pain. You might try that and/or alternating with an ice pack. Just a basic hot water bottle like this one from CVS will do the trick:

http://tinyurl.com/5dqg22

D.,

how often does the pain present itself? How long does it last? Is it relieved promptly by ibuprofen or tylenol? Does the affected foot look or feel abnormal: is it red, hot to the touch, when there is pain? Does the child have regular foot arches, or is the foot flat? Is it just one foot, and always the same, or does the pain involve both feet and legs, together or one at any given time? Can he move his feet and legs freely, whn in pain, or are movements limited, does it help to move around or does he tend to curl up in bed and stay still, when in pain? Is this pain the only issue he complains about, or are there other problems (skin rashes, intestinal problems, anything) that also come and go without an apparent explanation? How active is the child, dcould the pain be a result of overexertion?

A specific answer to each of these questions may bring you and your doctor closer to figuring out this thing. It is not uncommon for children to complain of pain when they grow very fast, but at the same time you do not want to dismiss these symptoms too quickly, without giving the whole siotuation some careful attention. On the reassuring side, he is fine, overall, and you can take your time an try to figure this out if it bothers him veryu signficantly.

I wish you all the best,

L.