7 Year Old Complaining of Leg Pain.

My younger sister complained of leg pain when she was just a bit younger than that. I believe it was growing pains. She often woke up in the night crying. She did allow my parents to massage her legs, but it lasted for over a year, maybe two. Perhaps Lavendar/Vanilla lotion massaged on his legs at bedtime...great for a boy, huh?

A friend of mine's daughter at the same age was having problems with her legs hurting also and it turned out that her feet were flat footed and the shoes she was wearing had no arch supports and the doc told her she needed to wear good shoes with arch supports. When she did that her legs didn't hurt anymore. Hope this helps. Good luck and God Bless.

Take him to the doctor just to be sure. It is probably growing pains, but as someone else said there are many other things that could cause pain and you'd want him to get checked for that. Best Wishes
J.

We went through this with my 4 1/2 year old son very recently. On a Wednesday evening, he was hobbling around a bit and said that his leg hurt up by his hip. I thought he had bumped it on something. Then on Thursday night, he woke up crying and when I tried to hold him, he yelled out "don't touch my leg!". He was in a lot of pain and his right leg was hurting - he said it was in his shin area, not one specific spot, but from his knee down. He wimpered some in his sleep during the rest of that night. The next morning, I got him into the doctor. They did a physical exam, x-rays, and bloodwork. Everything came back negative. I am assuming that it was growing pains. He broke his left leg during a sledding accident last December and we still go for periodic checks to the orthopedic (sp?) doctor. When I asked him his opinion on this, he said that it could very well be growing pains. Anyway, within a few days the pain wasn't intense anymore and now about a month has passed and it isn't hurting him. It is very scary though! I hope that your son's leg will be better soon.

my vote is for GROWING PAINS! or a need to pump POTASSIUM, CALCIUM, &/or WATER. Each of these will cause leg pain at night.

& yes, during this pain...it does hurt to massage the leg. I have found that heat & stretching & Ibuprofen helps more than anything. This leg pain is something which my entire family has endured for generations! Both my dad & his mom suffered from it, & my sis & I still do. As children, my sis & I were examined many times (thru the years) by different doctors & the dx was always: growing pains.

When I was pregnant, I had to pump calcium & potassium to ward off "charley-horses"...to use an old-fashioned term. Just simply keeping up with some milk & bananas took care of the leg pain. I now take a diuretic for blood pressure & have to eat a banana each day to help boost my potassium. Soooo, it's been a lifelong (so far) process for me!

A need for more water can also cause leg pain, which can be an early symptom of dehydration. Pumping up the water intake can sometimes help alleviate this.

Now for a word of caution: my older son was 6 when he was diagnosed with a degenerative hip disease....Perthes Disease. It is quite common between the ages of 4-12, & usually affects active boys more than girls. This disease manifests in leg pain & a limp. The pain is usually in the thigh area & the hip joint, with the pain sometimes radiating down the leg. It's been a long, hard haul for him... with surgery in 1st, 3rd, & 4th grade....& the use of crutches, a leg brace, & sometimes a wheelchair in between these years. The need for a hip replacement has been present since age 18, seriously in need since age 21. (He has delayed surgery in hopes for a better long-term prognosis....hoping for new developments in the field of replacement joints/pain management.) Because of this family history, our younger son has had x-rays several times to rule out Perthes....with dx finalized as "growing pains".

I do not share this to scare you...I simply present it as an "information only" tag. I truly believe you are dealing with growing pains! I wish you Peace!

could be "growing pains" but you should check with your doc just to be sure it isnt something serious

It may just be growing pains. I went through a stage where my knee hurt really bad and it was just growing pains.

I had the same problems when I was around 7. I'm 21 years old now and I still wake up in the middle of the night unable to sleep (sometimes even crying) due to the pains in my legs. I have had x-rays taken of the whole lower half of my body and doctors couldn't find anything. I found out I have a very severe case of foot plantar fasciitis (high/low arches) and have worn insoles and the pain never subsided. I have also taken potassium tablets to see if I was just lacking in that and it never helped. It might be a serious condition. It is also a possible symptom of multiple sclerosis. Whatever you do, be persistant with doctors about taking care of your son.

My oldest son had leg cramps around the same age as well, sometimes it is growing pains but it can also be what they call a charlie horse if it is a localized pain and it lasts a short amount of time. Making sure he stays hydrated and eating a banana can help if its a charlie horse...if it is growing pains I am not really sure there is anything that you can do. I would definitely bring it up to his pediatrician if he has this complaint for a while just so that your ped can reassure you. Take care
B.

This could definitely be growing pains. My daughter had them when she was about his age, even to the age of about 10. If it continues or gets worse, I wouldn't hesitate to get him checked out though. There are many different disease that can cause this type of leg pain also. We ran all of the tests on my daughter as a precaution because hers got so bad at times she would wake up screaming and crying.

I can fully remember having what my Mom told me were "growing pains" growing up. They did make my legs hurt, almost like a charlie horse down my entire legs, I'd just get in bed and sleep them away... or maybe they happened at nightand I was going to bed anyway. If this weremy son and I'd checked everything else out I'd chalk it up to "growing pains" for a while personally and maybe just mention it at his next check up.

Thank you for asking this question. My son has been going throught the same thing for a while. He's 6. He's a very active kid and seldom complains of pain of any kind (by the time he has symptoms that we notice, he's usually really sick becasue he won't complain until it really hurts, generally with ear infections). He has had some major pain with his legs. He will sit and let me rub them as long as I use long movements and not too hard. I also give him Motrin and sometimes a low dose of Benedryl when it's extra bad, so that he can sleep. I feel so bad for him. My husband also had these pains when he was a kid. Makes a momma sad to see her baby in pain. :(

It's probably growing pains. I had them when I was little and my kids did. Good news is my Dad did too when he was little and his Mom knew the solution to make it go away quick. You sit at the end of the bed while your son lays down. Lift his leg and put one of your hands on one side and one on the other. Rub the leg up and down as fast as you can. Like get the friction built up on it. It makes the leg warmer and it almost immediately feels better and your a hero. I usually would do it a couple times in a few minutes and it would quit hurting. You have to get it warm though.

God Bless,
L. (H. now)

When I was teaching there was a little boy in kidnergarten who could barely walk. His legs hurt him so bad. It was determined that it was growing pains. Not sure how long it lasted but it seemed like a good part of the school year.

Definitely growing pains. I had them and now both my boys get them. Sometimes in the feet, sometimes in the tibia area, occasionally in the femur. Those long bones grow fast sometimes...and it hurts!

I learned very quickly that rubbing and massage doesn't really work. When I was little, I would tuck my arm under my leg and pull up, putting pressure on my femoral artery. It would cause my leg to go numb so I could go to sleep (mine were usually at night)...but I'd end up waking up later, crying. I started getting up and taking tylenol.

So, as a mom, I suggest a half-dose of ibuprofen (such as Motrin). That is usually enough to stop it. Tylenol works okay to stop pain, but I believe that the pain is caused by inflammation, so ibuprofen usually works better. Stopping the CAUSE of the pain instead of just treating the symptoms of the pain will have a longer term effect.

Good luck!

C.

We're going through the same thing...I've chalked it up to growing pains (which stumps me b/c neither my husband nor I had them). I give my son Motrin (but make sure to give them something to eat with it or it will upset their tummy) as it seems to work better than Tylenol. I also try some massage on him and a heating pad.

I've also had my son to the Dr. over this and it's always come back "growing pains"...sometimes seems worse when he's doing a lot of exercise too. Hope this helps.

I would say yes growing pains my son complains that his legs hurt every now and then usually every few months for a day or two.He say's that it's his knees and behind them his calfs and sometimes up by his hips.He is very tall for his age thin not overweight.

My daughter was doing this also, and just like Donna said, it turned out to be that she had no arches and the tendons in the back of her legs were too short. In her case, we opted for surgery to fix her feet and lengthen her tendons. She has never regretted that we did that. She lives a very normal, pain free life now.
Also, they only do one leg at a time, and it takes 6 weeks to heal enough before they do the other leg. By the time my little girl was ready for her second leg to be operated on, her first one had grown considerably longer than the leg that hadn't been fixed yet. No wonder those short tendons were causing her so much pain ! That child was needing to grown and couldn't ! After the second surgery, the second leg caught up to the first in growth lickety-split.
See your pediatrician to rule out any other major problems, then see a good podiatrist about his feet.