Growing Pains??? - Muncie,IN

Find a good podiatrist. My son had the same complaint and we discovered that he had flat feet (no arches). The doctor said that this was causing stress to his growth plates (which was were the pain was coming from).

The doctor made inserts for him to wear in his shoes and also suggested certain shoes that would provide better support. The doctor also said that if it's caught early enough while the feet are still growing, the inserts can help the feet develop better arches.

He's been wearing them for about 6 months and is doing great.

Have you taken him to a foot doctor to see how his arches are? My youngest daughter and my sister both have trouble with flat feet. It can cause a lot of pain in the feet and legs. Orthotics are wonderful for this. Also, my chiropractor discovered that this same child has hips that are really uneven! Her spine and hip bones are so out of whack that she distributes her weight more on one foot than the other instead of evenly distributed. I would look into both of those because it can also help as he grows to strengthen the muscles in his feet and legs.

Good luck!

My oldest is turning 8 in January. She periodically complains that her legs are hurting at night. It is typically in her calves and the only thing we have found is to massage. That can make for a long night! If she is crying hard enough and can't get comfortable, we do give her some pain medication. Typically she will have several nights in a row and then be okay for a while.
My second oldest, who is turning 5, has the same problem with his feet. We have tried the same technique and haven't found anything other than the massage to help. I have not found a link between shoes or activity level for either one of them.
Both of them are generally asleep and wake up complaining about the pain.
So I guess my point is, I have no better answer but I do understand your problem. We have been to several doctors and they all have said the same thing... likely just growing pains. Their belief has been if it were something more serious it would hurt more frequently than my children experience.
Good luck with this adventure. I know as a Mom how our children in pain breaks our heart!

I would take him to a pediatric podiatrist and see if they can fit him for shoes or if they can help in any other way.

A. you may want to consider him seeing a pediatric sleep doctor. It could be a sign of pediatric restless legs syndrome or some other sleep problem.

My daughter has had leg pain rather than foot pain, but here is something that has helped her: My mom's friend gave us a "Beddy-Bear" that you heat in the microwave for 2 minutes(or less). It kind of works like a heating pad, but you don't have to worry about turning it off or fire hazard. It says it's manufactured by Intelex Ltd. and contains treated wheat grains. My daughter loves it and it seems to do the trick for her leg pains.

At age 3 and 4 my daughter would often wake in the night and complain of foot pain. She would sometimes cry and was generally a tough kid. Foot massage helped her a lot. She would go back to sleep and stay asleep. She did grow out of this.

Her Ped said that since massage did help it probably was growing pains. He also said be careful that she is not wanting the extra love at night.

Now she is 11 and I have to be very careful to buy her 'good' supportive shoes. Her feet still tire easily and hurt.

I suggest to massage his feet before bed every night. Also make sure he has good shoes. Wearing something like flip flops may be making his feet tired.

I remember going through that same pain as a kid. I was a bit older though. Around 10. My mom kept telling me it was growing pains. Turns out she was right! I have high arches so that was never a problem. The dr. just said that my feet were growing quickly. I still have big feet! LOL

A.-
My daughter isn't old enough for this yet, but I got an email from Parent Center today and found this article. Hope this helps!
http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/0_growing-pains_###-##...

If the feet aren't bothering him any other time you are doing all you can do. I might check with a podiatrist just to be sure. I know it is frustrating, with my DS who is 27 now and the 10 yr old it was/is legs. I made sure they had a warm bath to relax the muscles before bed, not a shower and that seemed to help some.

Hi A.! I'd suggest buying different shoes. Even if his shoes fit in length maybe he has wide feet or high arches & needs more support. ...and if he doesn't typically wear shoes through the day (like my daughter) he may need to so he can get some arch support. I'd consider giving that a go... Good luck!

Your pediatrician sounds like he is trying to just pass by giving you an answer. He probably doesn't know.
Being too active would never be a reason for this.
It may very well be just growing pains, but I would check with a foot doctor to be on the safe side, and I am sure one would tell you to monitor it to see if there are any changes etc...
I suppose he could also be low on potassium, which can cause cramps.

I'd definitely take him to a podiatrist or get a 2nd opinion from another pediatrician. My mom told me that when I was somewhere around 18 months (I think that's the right age) that my knees hurt me. She said I'd cry and say I couldn't walk because my knees were broken. Finally our family doctor ran some tests, and come to find out I had rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can be really serious, so it's good that the doctor decided on a hunch to test me for it. Hopefully there's nothing serious with your son, but I'd want to be on the safe side if it were me. I'm sure you do to. Good luck!

My daughter (10 years old) has been getting pains in her feet and shins for years. The doctor said they're growing pains and probably precede a growth spurt. I usually give her ibuprofen when it happens and that does the trick. However, when its just her feet that hurt, I have taken her to my chiropractor. She does some work on her feet and relieves the problem there without any trouble. The pain in her feet seems to be from stepping on toys or something like that. It pushes things out of alignment and the chiropractor manipulates it back. The shins, though, I do have to give her medication for. Come to think of it, I think she's outgrowing the pain in her feet. It doesn't seem like she's complained about them for quite a while. I hope this helps. Oh, I also have a son, who has never had growing pains! So, the fact that your son has them does not mean that your daughter will have them too.

Hello A.

I understand what you are going through with your son. I have a 6 year old daughter that has always had growing pains in her legs and feet. I hate to use an electric heating pad on her so what i do is i put her in a warm bath. Yes even at 2am 4am and it has also been known to happen agian at 6am. What ever it takes to help the pain go away. I get in with her because i know she is so sleepy. I hold her up so she wont go under the water. I have done this since she was a very small child. She has grown so much faster than my oldest daughter. So I know that it is growing pains. I am also a mom that hates to give a child medicine when there are home remedies out there that might work just as good. i am looking up some right now so when i find them i will send you the ingormation.

good luck

I could have written this post! My daughter (now 3.5) has had the same thing for the last 8 months or so. She jumps off of everything, which is probably part of it. However, we discovered that from June - Aug she went from a size 6 shoe to a size 10!! We even took her to the DR because we were losing so much sleep getting up with her. We do the massage and the Motrin to keep her from hurting too much. We keep her in footy pjs to keep her feet warm at night. It gets worse if they are cold. Also, we put her in a tennis shoe that has a very supportive arch. Seems to be helping... Good Luck!

My daughter had the same problem when she was younger. Sounds just like what your son is going through. She would wake up in the middle of the night crying that her foot hurt. Generally we massaged it and iced it and that is what finally made the pain go away, but this was a common occurrence for quite awhile. I had people tell me that she had high arches and that it was the shoes I was buying her that caused her to be in pain, but it didn't seem to matter what shoes she wore. I actually think that my pediatrician said that it was probably just her feet growing. She is ten now and it has been a while since she has had this problem so I am more prone to believe that it did have something to do with her feet growing.