Prolonged "Growing Pains"--help

Growing up I used to wake up with leg pains as well. My M. would put me in a hot bath or give me a heating pad and they would go away. I still have them some time. And I found out that it was not a lack of potassium, like every one says. It was a lack of magnesium. My doctor prescribed me a magnesium vitamin and it worked great. There is an over-the-counter vitamin that is called MagOx that works. Since I am an adult, I would talk to your doctor about this before you do it to make sure. I know that you can get magnesium from nuts, but I don't know what else.

My five year old daughter has had a lot of pains too...often waking up screaming because it hurts. She has grown a lot (five shoe sizes in a year and a half)! The children's meltaways for pain (we get the generic) right before bed work great. If she has been extremely active, we massage the leg muscles with pain ointment BEFORE she goes to bed. Put a light blanket or something over them to keep the heat activated on the legs. Also, limit the activity during the evening to start calming the body down. You might have to add time for this, pending on the activity of the day! Best wishes!

You might want to get his vitamin D levels checked if you haven't already. With people staying indoors more and wearing sunblock when they are outside it is more common to find low vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D levels can cause bone pain.

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20031210/lack-o...

Growth spurts can also cause bone pain (my family is tall also); however it's been my experience that the pain doesn't last more than a few months at a time (like the summer I grew three inches taller).

I and a friend have also experienced leg pain as adults due to hypothyroidism. However if your son is growing well that is less likely to be the cause of his problem. You could ask for a thyroid or TSH test just to make sure though.

One of my grandchildren has a bone issue called Legg Perthes Disease (I think it's spelled correctly). He got a referral to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas. They are an awesome group of doctors! If you think what your child is serious, other than simply "growing pains" see if you can get a referral from your doctor and get in touch with the hospital. If you don't know anything about the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, look them up on the internet! They treat all children with bone issues at no charge to the parents. My grandchild has been going there since he was diagnosed; this week will be his third visit - the initial visit, and two check-ups each year after that. They are doing breakthrough work in all kinds of areas, including limb lengthening in the cases of one limb being shorter than the other one, scoliosis in children, etc. They are AWESOME! Good luck in trying to figure out what is really going on with your son!

Hi Doris,
Does your son play sports and is his pain in both legs or more isolated to the knee area? I know he is only 6 y/o but does he do any type of recreational sports? I am going to send you some information that may shed some light, especially since you have a family member who is 6'8", Wow! This may help you later on if he does start to play competitive sports. http://www.osgood-schlatter.com/ Blessings! p.s. The info. is geared towards knee "growing pains" so I am not sure if this is what you need.

Doris,
Our middle son had muscle cramps alot starting when he was about 3. The Dr. too ran tests and called it being muscle bound and recommended massages which helped. When he became active in sports we had to be sure he had something like gatorade to drink. He too had this issue for some time. This was thirty years ago, alot of progress has been made I'm sure. The massages though did help. Good luck.

Check with your doctor first, but children usually need more minerals than they get with their food, especially calcium and magnesium. Make sure that he is getting at least his daily requirement of both. A supplement that supplies them in the ratio of 2 time calcium to 1 x magnesium will help with the leg cramps. A warm compress and a gentle massage before he falls asleep will help also. Plus, it gives him a time to enjoy more "mommy" time!

Doris, I'm so sorry that your son is going through all the pain. Have you considered check his pituatury gland? The reason I mention it is because you say that he has a very tall cousin and sometimes there could be irregularities on the gland. The gland is located in the brain. Good luck and best wishes.

Elisa

My daughter gets these all the time! If she is feeling bad in the evenings I give her a hot bath before she goes to bed. I also bought a very very long sock which I filled with rice and tied up at the end. I take the rice and microwave it for one minute and wrap it around her legs and ankles. Its like a heating pad but you don't have to plug it in, and the heat slowly fades.(I was nervous about the heating pad staying on)I only give her medicine if these other things don't work. And when I do its Motrin not Tylenol. Just seems to work better. Hope this helps!

"If these nutrients - especially Vitamins C and D, plus Calcium, Zinc, and Magnesium, and essential amino acids are missing or deficient, then the bones will not grow strong and may hurt, bleed, and get deformed."

Also, make sure that he gets enough water. Soda can dehydrate.

S., M. to 1 in Heaven, 4 on Earth, and 1 in the oven!

Hi Doris,

You might try giving him a half of a banana in the morning, and the other half in the evening. (just place the half he'll eat in the evening in a ziploc bag and store in the refrig).

He may need more potassium, and bananas are a great source. He can also get additional potassium from green leafy veggies.

You might also suggest that when he stays with his grandma that she not give him a spoonful of sugar. Too much sugar and not enough potassium cause even adults to have severe leg cramps in their sleep. (I've dealt with this since childhood myself).

Hope this helps and he is able to sleep better.

J. L
Austin

I can empathize with you. My 13yo son has had "growing pains" since age 2. He would wake from a dead sleep screaming in pain. His legs, knees, hips hurt. We would rub them, Bengay them, Biofreeze them, and did the Tylenol thing until he could go back to sleep. He's been in and out of doctors b/c we have hip perthis in our family. (Negative results.) He still has pain. He has size 11+ feet and is growing at 5' 8.5". He looks like an adorable brick wall. His father is over 6 ft and sprouted as a teen...stetch marks to prove it. He has tall great uncles on maternal side. We have yet to find a source or constant relief. He now has "funky knees" that we are trying to figure out. It's like the joint doesn't match up correctly. They bulge where they shouldn't. I can't offer you any help other than to let you know I understand your pain and confusion. I say that if this is the biggest worry with my child, then I have it made. Good luck and God Bless!

Hi Doris,
My 10 year old daughter went through this and the only thing that really seemed to do much to help were those quinine tablets for leg cramps(I think that's what they're called). Hyland's Homeopathic makes them. I also gave her some lotion and just told her to rub them into her legs. I am under the impression that guys just handle pain a little differently. It's okay for them to bump, bruise, scratch, and bleed - but let allergies, or a cold, or any ailment that they can't visibly see the pain coming from and they cry and whine... even my husband fits into this category! A girl on the other hand will whine and whimper about the visible stuff, and just deal with the inside stuff. You've been to the doctor, you've been proactive, and short of picking up some Hyland's at Whole Foods or Sun Harvests - just try not to worry about it and leave it in God's hands. My son is starting these as well. He turned six in April. Hopefully he won't fuss too badly, but I know I can count on hearing about it from him. Hang in there. :)

my son had the same symtoms. After tones of test and lots of medication he was finally diagnoised with Oshgood Schlgers(sp??) it really is just growing pains. His sports Dr. is the one that told us what it was. When his legs bother him now--and then-- we just put icepacks on the area around the knee that hurts. It is actually growing pains. My son is now 15 and when he still has the pain on occasion.

i suggest having him checked out by a chiropractor. a really good one. i have found one, if you would like the info. it is really good stuff. i had no idea how much it can help a multitude if issues. pm me if you would like to check it out.

Children have a Thryoid disorder as do adults. Leg pains is one of the problems. See a "Endocrinology" Doctor, they are the only doctors that can really diagnois a thryoid disorder. However, some of the other suggestions you have received are good also.

My son had severe leg cramps (is 24 now) begain about 2 tears and ended around 4 years (or he was accustomed to the pain)
I would rub his legs for hours with absorbine jr, it seemed to lessen the pain. He was always very active. At 9 years old he just wanted to lay around watching tv said his back hurt. I carried him to the er they did exrays and blood work he was diagnosed with Junior rheumatoid arthritis. The dr said he probably was born with it and had a high tolerance to pain. He took high doses of ibuprofin and lessened his pain. As the years went on he never laid up again. He said M. I hurt if I lay around and I would rather be having fun hurting than to lay around hurting and not have fun.
He still has the arthritis today and is a workaholic. But for most cases they do outgrown the JRA.
I am not saying this is what is the problem with your child but the test will give you answers.
A.

I had serious growing pains well into my teens and there are two things that are a HUGE help...CALCIUM (the nice, chewables) and stretches. They finally went away when I began to take calcium on a regular basis...and eating really good foods...you know, not ANY junky stuff. Also, good hydration can help too.

Our doctor told us they see it all the time and it was due to dehydration....but our son is great about drinking through out the day. Even when we increased his water intake he'd still get them.

Then I made a connection - any time he has any amount of a dark soda (dr pepper, coke, etc) - he'd get the pains. When we cut it out completely all the complaints and night wakings stopped!

I wish your son all the best. I clearly remember going through it myself as a child!!!

Yes, God is hilarious...my oldest and youngest are also 19 yrs apart! I wonder if your son might have a calcium/Vit D, potassium or magnesium deficiency? You might consider diet or supplements to see if they help. A banana a day or a child's vitamin with extra calcium/Vit D. They are finding that more and more people are Vit D deficient. Even if they get lots of calcium each day, without the Vit D, it won't work like it should. Hope he feels better soon.

My 11 YO daughter has had growing pains in her legs off and on since she was about 5 or 6. She is currently 5 feet tall, which isn't exceptionally tall for her age but she is all legs. She is also sway-backed and she does exercies to stretch her muscles. Since she has always gotten the growing pains in her legs, I give her Tylenol and/or a heating pad to sleep with. When she was younger, I used to lay in bed with her and rub her legs.