Your Childrens Health

None of the experts can really decide what causes growing pains however; many of them believe that the pains and discomforts are from excessive activity that causes the muscles to hurt at the end of the day.

I have to disagree, I had growing pains as a child and my son now has growing pains. I was not involved in any type of exercise except walking to and from school and a bit of playing at recess, but my knees, thighs, and calves would hurt so bad I was in tears. I remember all the different things my mother tried to give me relief. Today, I am doing the same for my son.

The experts say that 25 percent to 40 percent of all children experience growing pains and that they occur between 3 to 5 years of age and once again from 8 to 12 years of age. Once again, I have to disagree. My legs began hurting when I was 6 and they hurt until I was 16. Therefore, there go the experts. My son is only 12 and his legs have hurt since he was 2. What I have noticed is that after his legs start hurting he goes through a growing spurt. Therefore, I do believe that growing pains are real and are associated with the growth of the bones and muscles in our legs.

Growing pains usually begin at the end of the day or just before bedtime, however children can be awaken in the middle of the night with their legs hurting. If you do not notice any swelling or redness where the pain is at, then more than likely your child is having growing pains.

There are ways to give your child comfort while his legs are hurting. The minute they start, you should give him liquid Motrin. This is the one that I have found that works the best and is the fastest. Motrin usually begins within 15 minutes after your child has taken the dose. After you give them the Motrin, you can relief the pain by placing them in a warm bathtub and allow the legs to soak completely covered, try massaging, heating pads or even warming a towel in the microwave and wrapping around the legs.

If you child has fever, is limping, as a rash, feels weak and tired or has lost his appetite then you should contact your physician. The only symptoms of growing pains are pain in the legs. If the pain lasts more than three days, you should also talk with your doctor to ensure that there are no serious problems.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 at 8:25 pm and is filed under Adolescence, Growing Pains. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.