My 5 y.o. woke up this morning with pain in both legs, in the calves and behind his knees. He scared us really badly as he could not walk properly at first so we took him to the doctor and was told it is most probably growing pains. Since yesterday was the first day of school after the Thanksgiving break and he ran a lot during the recess (according to what he told us), I am thinking the pain may be due to the overruse of the muscles as well, as during the break he did not have that much physical activity. The doctor ruled out more serious conditions as the pain is in both legs, so everything seems fine. Has anyone dealt with this? Any advice is highly appreciated.
Stinks in a big way when they're in so much pain. It can also be their ligaments and tendons just aren't growing as fast as their bones. Imagine how painful that could be.
We kept Tylenol and Motrin by our bed for a long time and I kept rice bags by the microwave. Motrin usually to reduce inflammation then a warm rice bag to help the pain.
Ask for a referral to a podiatrist. My DD has flat feet and if she doesn't wear orthotics and good shoes, she gets leg pains. She also has growing pains, but we realized after a while that the pains after walking a lot (or running) were from improperly supported feet. She was 5 when she got orthotics.
When I was growing up, I had such horrible pains in my calves and behind my knees, sometimes moving up to the tendon that attaches my inner thigh to my torso. :( It wasn't until early teens I learned they were indeed "growing pains" which I thought was either a silly t.v. show or a myth.
Besides hot baths, Tylenol and massages, there wasn't much taught to me to help. Even as a young high school student, I suffered. I brought it up to my P.E./English teacher and he told me to lie on my back with my tush up against the wall and my legs flat, straight against the wall for a count of about 30 seconds or so. Then, bend my knees for about 15 secs. and then repeat for about 20 minutes. This helps with circulation and pain. Also, most stores sell the Hyland's brand of homeopathic/natural remedies for all sorts of ailments, including leg cramps. This helped my girls. Try that.
My two girls have suffered as well, and pressing the legs against the wall as my teacher advised really did help a lot. Try not to have him run too much, play on monkey bars, and things like that.
Good luck. It's tough when there isn't much in our "parental arsenal" that can help. But, seriously, try the legs on the wall... it costs nothing and helps. My teacher said that with poor circulation, this "brings the bad blood from the feet to the rest of the body so it can be recirculated and sent back through". Whether it was poor circulation or growing pains, it helped!
Let us know what works for you guys!
L.
Oh yes, when my youngest was four! Completely random and it really freaked me out. We were at an Easter brunch and she literally couldn't walk (and no she was never a drama queen so I knew it was real pain.) It went away within a few hours of going home but it was weird. For what it's worth she has the longest legs of my three kids so maybe that has something to do with it (?)
Growing pains can be horrible!
Our son started to get them around 4 years old.
He'd wake up crying in the night his legs hurt so bad.
We tried warm bathes, heating pad, Aspercream, bananas, milk (calcium rich foods), massage, Tylenol - sometimes one of those would work and other times nothing worked.
He'd get pains in his arms sometimes too - anywhere in the arms or legs where the long bones are.
He shot up 4 inches that year.
He did this again at 6 and 8 and when ever he was growing rapidly the growing pains could hit any time day or night.
Yep. Almost the same thing when our son was 4. Laid on the couch crying for what seemed like hours because his legs hurt. Couldn't/wouldn't walk one morning. Diagnosed with growing pains. I felt like one of those hypochondriac moms who goes to the ER with a paper cut. He has never complained about leg pain again.
Growing pains. I had them and my kids have them too. I used to wake up in the middle of the night crying, my legs hurt so badly.
A half-dose of Tylenol for his weight will take care of it, no problem.
