7 Year Old Son Wakes up Screaming He Can't Bend His Right Knee

please ask drs to test for lyme disease and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Fever & joint pain in young child deserves more than a "growing pains" diagnosis. Good luck, poor little guy!

Did the ER suggest you follow up with his own doctor? They usually do. I would schedule an appt for him to be seen ASAP. When you call mention how he's feeling today.

Did anyone mention anything about keeping him well hydrated? Muscle spasms/Charley horses can be quite painful and will prevent me from being able to bend a knee, move an ankle, etc. Make sure he's drinking plenty of water throughout the day and evening, put a water bottle by the side of his bed for during the night. No soda, it dehydrates, and have him eat oranges and bananas which are rich in potassium. Not enough potassium and dehydration can cause painful muscle spasms, they make me want to scream and cry :-/

Have him checked for Lyme disease. If the blood work comes back negative he could still have it. Have him checked again. It is difficult to diagnose. See someone who specializes in Lyme disease or even a rheumatologist.

Since you've taken many steps to rule out a lot of things, it's my guess he's having growing pains.
My legs used to hurt me so badly at night that I thought I was going to die.
My dad told me it was "growing pains" and he tirelessly sat on my bed rubbing my legs and trying to calm my breathing. He also kept a cold wash rag on the back of my neck because I would often cry until I had a bad headache.

Try ice, try a heating pad, try a cool rag on the back of his neck. Give him some ibuprofin or motrin to help with the pain, because the pain IS real.
My little sister never got "growing pains" and not all kids do. But it does hurt.
The best thing you can do is try to get him settled down because getting ourselves worked up only engages our pain receptors more.

He will eventually outgrow them. I feel bad for the little guy because I've been there. No fun for anyone.

Best wishes.

Did they test him for lyme disease?

I second the dehydration bananna for potassium idea. if he was starting to get sick and got dehydrated that might be the problem. take care of him and keep an eye on him, if he can move it now he is probably ok.

I would suggest making an appointment with his pedi or calling your nearest Children's Hospital to get an appointment with one of their doctors. ER's are there to handle life-threatening situations. They are not diagnosticians nor do they specialize in children.

My 7 year old daughter does this when she is growing. My husband had growing pains really bad growing up, and unfortunately my girls get them really bad too. I give her Tylenol and within 30 minutes to an hour she is back to sleep.

he may be low on potassium which can cause muscle cramps in the legs. try a heating pad when he wakes up and a pain reliever. it sounds like growing pains. but if it continues keep going to the dr to find out what is going on. hope hes better soon.

I would think that if he had a tumor, it would have shown on the xray/MRI. An infection would have shown up in the blood work - his white blood cell count would have been high.

Did you ask them to do a strep test? I would ask the doctor about the possibility of scarlet fever. I don't know if this would show up in a regular blood test or not. The reason I mention scarlet fever is that my sister had it as a child and couldn't walk for a couple of weeks - it settled in her joints.

Also ask for a test for Lymes Disease. It is amazing how many times they figure out someone has it and it's been in their system for a very long time.

I do wonder if it could be a leg cramp and he doesn't know how to communicate that. Pointing the foot will make it hurt so much that he would scream, that's for sure. You have to teach him to flex his foot.

I would give him a banana every day. Bananas have potassium and help to prevent leg cramps.

There's also the issue of "growing pains", J.. My older son used to have them, and he'd cry about them at night. Tylenol and massage helped my son.

I don't think that your son's fever has to do with his knee pain, unless it's the scarlet fever I mentioned. It sounds like he is sick.

You can only add to your post and write a SWH like you already have. The site isn't like FB, so you're doing it right...

Please update us on what they figure out, mom! Best to you both and hope he feels better really soon!

Hi, J.:

When you son wakes up crying, have some massage
oil available and massage both of his legs and put a
warm cloth on the area that is painful.

Good luck.
D.

Did they check for inflamation in his blood? My son had something right before Thanksgiving that made his joints stiff. And he ended up having lots of inflamtion in them. The dr said he could have strep that went to his joints. We never found out for sure. But yes his PCP would probably be more help than an ER unfortunatly. But at least they could rule some stuff out with the tests they did there. I hope he feels better very soon!!! I hate when young ones are like that!

1. When was the last time he had the knee pain?

2. He has a fever today and is sleeping. How is that related to his knee pain? He may just have the flu. Unless you explain a little better, I'm not sure what you're asking about. :-(