Anyone Knows a Natural Relief for Growing Pains

When I was young, my mom used to massage my legs with "isopropyl alcohol" when I got growing pains which was often. Potassium from bananas is also a good bet. My son now gets them and it seems to work for him also. Good Luck

Depending on the pain... bananas work for muscles because of the potassium. My daughter complains about her legs and hands and if she has a banana each day there is no pain. Smoothies are a great way to get it down since they get boring eating them everyday.

Hi, R.. Well, I don't know how old your daughter is, but she should not be in constant pain. It is possible that she's wearing the wrong shoes or playing too hard, but she should not be in pain all the time. It should not be necessary for her to take motrin every day, only when she has an injury or something.

I had constant pain when I was a child, and doctors dismissed it as "growing pains." Unfortunately, when I was in my 20s and still suffering chronic pain, I found out that doctors had discovered a chronic pain condition of older children and adolescents which they used to dismiss as "growing pains." It was too late to help me through my painful childhood, but doctors should not be dismissing any child's constant pain as "growing pains."

Something may be wrong. As one lady suggested, your daughter may be wearing shoes that hurt her feet and so the pain spreads up her ankles to her knees. Try giving her different shoes such as comfortable, low-cut sneakers which do not constrict the foot or the ankle. Some of the fashions of the designer sneakers are not really good for growing feet, especially not little kids'. If changing her shoes doesn't help, PLEASE GET ANOTHER OPINION BESIDES THAT DOCTOR YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN TO. If she does have some kind of orthopedic problem, or God forbid, juvenile arthritis, there is treatment for those things, and she doesn't have to suffer.

For the meantime, you can rub any of the pain-relieving ointments similar to Ben Gay, etc. DON'T USE CAPSAICIN, though. It's very, very harsh on the skin. You can't go out in the sun with Capsaicin on, and you can't wash your skin in hot water, either. It's way too harsh for my adult skin, so it could really do some damage to a child. Any of those menthol-based rubs will ease the pain. Also, soaking the feet and ankles in Epsom salts (especially the lavender-scented brand) will help a lot. You can give her a warm bath with lavender-scented soap, too, and this does a lot to ease body pain.

Also, have her spend some time each day resting with her feet elevated (raised up above the level of her heart). This can be helpful, especially if she's got any swelling in her legs, feet or ankles. She may have poor circulation in her feet and legs; this can cause quite a lot of pain, even in young children.

I don't want you to worry, and I don't want to scare you, but it's not normal for a child to be in constant pain. This is a sign that something's wrong, whether it's her shoes or something else.

I pray that the problem is minor and easy to fix, and she remains the happy-go-lucky child she sounds like.

Peace and health,
Syl

We love epsom salt baths.

I know all about growing pains! I had them and so do both of my children. I used to do tylenol every time, but I started to give them a rice sock instead unless it gets really bad. A rice sock (if you don't know) is a sock filled with plain cheap rice and tied at the end. You microwave it for 20 - 60 seconds depending on the amount of rice in the sock. Be careful, they can get pretty hot. This you can send them to bed in and it eventually runs out of heat and won't burn them. I have since made them with a wash cloth folded in half and sewn together with rice in it. They look nicer and lay flat on your legs better. Basically any soft cotton that can be microwaved works. Of course no metal or plastic or it can't be microwaved. These rice socks also work for stomach aches, etc. My kids have only had to have about 1/8 of the medicine they were taking since I started using these! I hope this helps.

I was told growing up that the pain in my legs was just growing pains. Then when I was in college and still occasionally getting it, I thought this is ridiculous, I can't still be growing!! So finally a doctor I was seeing for some unrelated reason said with total certainty that it was my body not properly utilizing potasium... and I swear to this day (I'm 39) that sometimes when I eat a banana that I get that same "growing pain" in my leg. I don't believe there is such a thing as just having pain in your body from growing. I think it must have to do with minerals or vitamins or hormones or something, and instead of just masking the pain you should see if you can figure out what is really causing it. Maybe have her keep a diary for a month of what she eats and see if it seems to occur when she eats certain foods.

somone said something about arthritis in children, my daughter has it, her dr say that when she complained about pains to give her motrin, like your said but he said she should have it too ofter and it will flare up, but she should grow out of it by the age five. I don't know how old your daughter is but it is just a thought. We had a lot of test done, she was limping real bad that is what prompted it. hope this helps.

Hi R.,

My husband grew 9 inches in his sophomore year summer. My 13 year old is now 6 feet tall and she is just now slowing down on the growth spurts....The best thing is a good vitamin rich diet and an absorbable multivitamin to keep everything working well. A glucosomine supplement for the joints is good. (Don't combine it with a chondroitin as that negates the glucosomine benefits. Most glucosomine you find in the store has both.)

I also used a Valerian root based supplement to relax her enough to sleep well at night. Growth and development tend to really happen during the sleeping hours and comfort is a must.

If you want information on what I specifically used and how I used it, let me know. I'd be glad to help.

Regards,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

My daughter has them as well--she's quite tall for her age. My husband's tall, and he had them when he was young. The trouble is that it's hard to tell what exactly she's feeling, what causes it (lots of possibilities out there!) and how to help.

We do give her Motrin on the nights when it wakes her up, and on other nights--when she's complaining at bedtime--we let her have a hot water bottle on her leg/legs to sleep with. This seems to work--and I don't mind giving her a hot water bottle if she's just needing attention :-)

I've also found that making sure she eats well and has the proper shoes helps. (I've noticed, for example, that if she runs in Crocs, her legs hurt that night.)

Hope that helps!

Hello R.,
This is just a suggestion:
When I was growing up,
a warm soaking bath really helped.
I'd try to stay away from Motrin,
as my 'now adult children' with
their own families,are having some
'health problems',from me giving them
such as Motrin when they were 'growing up',etc.
God Bless you,
S.

Bodies give us symptoms to tell us what is going on. A nutritionist will tell you what MDs call"growing pains"- which is what they say when they don't know what it is- is a lack of a nutrient that is needed for this rapid growing time. Growing pains, that is just not the way a body works.

Go to Weston Price Foundation and they will tell you what foods will supply what your daughter needs to grow properly.
Also check the Int'l Chiropractic Pediatric Assoc for someone near you who can do a nutritional work up to be specific for your child.

To get you started free range organic eggs for a starter, and find a doc near you who uses Standard Process vits- this company is only thro trained professional- and has been around since 1929- super products.

Best of luck-k

A top quality calcium/magnesium supplement.

Has she been growing taller fast? I would take her to a Chiro and have her checked, it may be Osgood-Schlotter disease. It's not bad, it's just that when kids grow tall fast they stretch their quads/ligaments too tight and it causes pain pulling on them. My 2 younger daughters both had it. There is some stretches that help.

My siblings and I are all very tall - and I don't remember it ever hurting to grow when we were young. When I was in my 20s however, "jellies" were popular footwear and I was working at a small family owned 3rd generation family shoe store and the only Stride Rite dealer in 3 counties. When kids and their parents came in complaining that the kids legs hurt, feet stank, feet were peeling etc..... it was almost a certainty that they were wearing "jellies" - ie: flimsy plastic shoes. When we suggested that they switch to good leather shoes, or the best sneakers and cotton socks, the symptoms almost always went away. The best sneaker for kids is a "cross trainer" type or a court shoe - as opposed to a running style. The running/jogging shoes, have added cushion in the back that actually "elevates" the foot in the back a little, if a child pronates or suppinates (rolls in or out) this will only aggravate the problem - ie: giving them more room to roll in our out. A good shoe store like Snyderman's in Ft. Myers can actually glue in little "cookies" or added arch supports to keep those feet and legs straight. What type of footwear is your daughter wearing? Flip flops? Crocs? If this is the case - I'm willing to bet if you invest in better footwear you will see a big difference. Think about it, if those muscles are pulled and twisted out of alignment - and they are running, playing and being very active it just makes sense that they would hurt at the end of the day. Flip flops and crocs are ok for wearing to run errands, or go to the beach or pool, but for all day every day active life of a kid - not enough support. And support is NOT just the little bump you feel inside the shoe where the arch goes, but the "counter" and "last" of the shoe, the material under the entire foot, side support - laces are better for pulling the sides up and holding them consistently rather than velcro.
Good luck! I hope that this helps.

Hi R.,

I am a certified Homeopath in Naples and there are some wonderful homeopathic remedies for growing pains such as Calcarea phosphorica and Phosphoricum acidum. This will help a lot and with no side-effects. Good luck

Get her to another doctor right away. There is no such thing as growing pains. My neice had this pain and as it got worse she started having problems walking. She was later diagnosed with arthritis. She has had problems with it all her life. But yet the doctors told her Mom they were growing pains. Good thing my sister in law didn't accept this and took her to other doctors until she found out what was really wrong.
My daughter had the knee and ankle pains. Then her back started hurting. Of course the doctor said it was growing pains. I took her to three other doctors before one found out what was causing the pain. Hers was from her allergy medication they had her on. Soon as we changed medicine the pain went away.
Any decent doctor will tell you there is no such thing as growing pains. It is just an easy way out from having to figure out what is really going on. It could be the shoes she is wearing causing it. Something she is doing during the day could be causing it. It could be something more serious. Find a doctor that is willing to figure it out, but don't let them get away with telling you it's growing pains. There is no such thing as growing pains......

I massage my daughter's legs at night if they hurt. I use kneading and gentle compression for a few minutes.
Also, my daughter's legs only hurt when she RUNS in her Crocs. I'm a massage therapist. As a professional, I have to say: though they are cute and easy to put on, Crocs are not good for anyone's feet, legs, and hips. I feel the same way about flip-flops.
In my opinion, and this is only my opinion, I think the whole growing pains diagnosis is really the doctor's way of saying "I don't know why their legs hurt". I felt this way before your post, by the way, just by observing which shoes my daughter wore when the leg pain showed up.
If your child or any child wore stride-rites and other reputable brands that give proper support, I bet the incidence of leg pain would decrease.
When my daughter, who is four, goes to a friends house she will bring or wear sneakers or a well-made sneaker sandal like Keens "in case I want to play tag you're it" because she does not like the pain.
Also, you could try an arnica homeopathic or arnica massage cream on her.

A warm/hot bath might help. If you feel your daughter is old enough, a heating pad will also help. I can remember waking up during the night as a child, crying because my legs hurt, and my mom or dad bringing in a heating pad. I was diagnosed with arthritis when I was 4. I still have pain sometimes in my ankles and knees. As I got older it moved up into my hips. I still handle it with a hot bath, some ibuprofen and sometimes a heating pad.

Good Luck!