My son is five years old. Just recently, he started complaining that his leg hurts and is limping. It seems that his thigh or hip is bothering him. He has not had any type of accident or injury so I am concerned. I called his doctor and he said it is nothing to be concerned about.
My son had a virus that made him limp. It got worse over about 5 days. We did X-rays and everything. He was only about 2 at the time. He did have a low grade fever too.
You could take him to a chiropractor, also. His hip or knee could be out of alinement and could be catching when he walks. Hope he gets better!
Both my kids did that when they about 2 or 3 (different times). They showed signs of congestion, and their pediatrician said they had a virus (cold) that was affecting their joints. One of them had xrays because the preschool wasn't sure he hadn't fallen. Anyway, the limping resolved itself, both times, within just a few days. Hope this helps.
Have his vitamin levels checked
Have you had his iron level taken?
I think you should see a good pediatrician and ask that he be checked for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis among other things. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but a limp is not normal and warrants investigation. If it is JRA, the sooner treatment starts the better.
Perhaps he pulled a muscle playing and did not realize it.
Or it could be growing pains. Try a heating pad and ibuprofen.
Sometimes, little boys may see someone else who is hurt and imitate them... mine did so much.
If it continues then you may make an appointment with the doctor so he can actually check it out.
When my daughter was 5 she complained of her hip hurting. I did not know exactly what to do with this type of "injury" so I let it go until one morning she woke up and could not walk! I took her to a chiropractic he & treated her successful for a couple of months and now she is 8 and we go back for check ups. He said that it's the way her body grows, kind of putting stress on the pelvic area so that it becomes twisted kind of, and then she compensates for it somehow, and then her hip starts hurting. I hope it's something that can be easily fixed and not some of the other things mentioned. Good luck!
Hi,
I think a quick x-ray could not hurt in this case. There could be a million reasons for this...some benign and some not so benign. I have a friend who had a child that started limping and it turned our she had a broken leg. She was younger yet they were shocked since she seemed to be just dealing with it. My husband has leg-calve perthese and basically his hip bone was not formed the correct way and he has little cartalidge in his hip. He still has a lip from it.
Best of luck and hope you son feels better soon!
I took my son to the choirpractor immediately and he diagnosis, I might say, accurately, an inquinal hernia. He was 4 and had surgery and all was great. See a doctor soon.
I didn't have time to read the responses, but sometimes kids legs will hurt if they are low in potassium. Bananas are a great source. My daughter had sore legs when she quit eating bananas regularly because her potassium level dropped. I got a supplement for her. Good luck!
Not to freak you out, but my neighbor's son had leg pain at five and the Dr. ignored it for years. He finally sent him to physical therapy and the therapist recommended an MRI as a precaution before they started. It turned out to be a malignant tumor on his bone. He is fine now, but nearly lost his leg. When I told a dr. friend of mine he said to never ignore leg pain in a child. I'd get a second opinion.
S.,
Take him in to see another doctor. My brother did this with no other symptoms and we were told it was nothing. He continued to complain and then actually began to drag the leg. Turned out that he had rheumatic fever!! He has had long term problems with health due to this.
Please get a second and more accurate opinion.
God Bless,
Bev
My 3 yr old granddaughter started limping one day also after
no apparent injury. I immediately put her symptoms into the search engine, google, I believe and pulled up an article that said every year over 100,000 children develop a mysterious limp that is caused by a virus. We still took her to the Dr. and he didn't seem concerned, just said to watch her & come back if it didn't go away within a week or so.
I believe it only lasted about 5 days, gradually getting better each day. I'd get him checked out but hopefully it's just a virus.
Get it checked out.
I have a friend who is a nurse and her daughter had these same symptoms for about a month.As it turned out, she had a bacterial bone infection in her hip and was in the hospital for 14 days!
Dear S., Please take your son back to the pediatrician and tell him you want him to give your son a thorough exam. If he still doesn't find anything, then request a scan of your son's leg. If the doctor refuses, then take your son to a different doctor. Chances are it's not anything, but you can never be too cautious. Take care.
You've gotten a lot of possibilities for the reason for your son's limping, most all of which should send you to the doctor--maybe a different doctor. One additional possibility is called epiphesis; it's where the muscles are growing faster than the bones, and the hip joint is affected because it can't sit properly in place since it's being pulled on by the muscles.
My brother had this when he was older than your son, so it may not be the issue, but if your little guy's muscles are growing rapidly, epiphesis is a possible cause. FYI, my brother is 50 years old now, played football and ran track all through high school and college, and still runs several miles most days--so he definitely got better! But it did entail him being on crutches and off the leg for a number of months. I don't remember what else the therapy was, and the treatment would most likely be different now anyway.
Bottom line -- if you remain concerned and your doctor isn't, YOU know best! Change doctors.
E.
We had a friend who did this. Turns out he had a very small hairline fracture. They had to do an MRI to see it as the X-ray didn't show it. He had simply tripped off a curb.
You did not say how long this has been going on. He's 5...if he is consistently complaining and limping (and not "forgetting" about it when no one pays attention) then I can't imagine he's faking it. To me, the pedi should at least take a look at it. I would think at least an X-ray would be in order as well.
On another note, I would be weary of any pediatrician that can tell you that everything is fine over the phone without giving you some idea of a timeline of things to watch for, or some treatments options, including Tylenol. Your child is complaining he's hurt. I hope that your doc at least told you to watch it and if it persists to call back!
Good luck!
I saw juvenile arthritis mentioned a few times. My daughter was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis at 2 years old (she's now 5). It started with limping and tiptoeing and then broke into a full flare where she couldn't walk or stand. She ended up in the ER and hospital for four days until they figured out what it was and referred us to Scottish Rite. We had taken my daughter twice to the pediatrician prior to the hospital stay. He thought she had just sprained her ankle.
JA usually presents in one or both knees, ankles, wrists or in toes and fingers. I haven't heard of it showing up as much in the hip without other joints involved, but it's probably worth ruling it out if you can't find another cause. If you get to that point, take your son to Children's Hospital in Dallas to see one of the pediatric rheumatologists (they practice there and at Scottish Rite, but you'd need a referral into Scottish Rite). Some kids go months and years without a juvenile arthritis diagnosis (they go to orthopedic doctors, etc.), while their joints are being destroyed. So skip straight to the pediatric rheumatologist if you can't get the answers to what's going on from your pediatrician.
Definitely don't go by the pediatrician's over-the-phone diagnosis!
My nephew did the same thing but it was his foot. He told his parents that he didn't do anything to hurt it. Well, after taking him to the doctor and getting a x-ray they found that he had broke his foot. He has a very high pain tolerance. He jumped down the stairs, like he always does, and broke his foot. I would take him to the doctor. You never know with kids.
From what you said, I don't think that that doctor is the kind of doctor you want or need to rely on. Diagnosing something over the phone without an examination doesn't make sense to me or sound like a caring doctor.
Try to find the source of the pain by pressing on various areas. Does he happen to remember if anything happened that hurt him at first? Do you have any walk-in clinics for children? I'd try that and while you're there, ask if they have any recommendations for a new regular pediatrician with a staff that seems to care enough to ask you to bring in your child for an exam.
S.,
My son had the same symtoms at about the same age. Our doctor was VERY concerned. It turned out to be something rather innocuous, an autoimmune response to a viral infection called toxic synovitis. The same symptoms can signs of more serious conditions such as juvenile arthritis which can be crippling or cancer. Please get it checked out right away.
Good Luck,
Jen
If this has gone on for more than a day or two, I don't see how a doctor could tell you it's nothing to worry about without even seeing your son. I'd call the doctor back and ask for an appointment, or I'd take him to another doctor. Things like this can happen and be nothing to be concerned about. But if it's not getting better and going away on its own, it needs to be looked into.
My son did this last spring during t-ball. He was 4 1/2 at the time. The doctor watched him run and walk down the hall, checked his hips, and ordered a blood test. Nothing showed up so we just watched him a little. It went away pretty quick (within 2 weeks)so we didn't worry anymore. I would request a blood test and x-ray just rule out anything.
