http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021129.html
As a child of 10-11, I experienced what many would call “growing pains”. Of course, my pain was localized to my knees, actually just below the kneecap. Where the slightest pressure would bring incredible amounts of pain. Still not sure if it was related to the amount of high-impact sports as I was playing (indoor soccer).
In any event, I was diagnosed with Osgoode Schlatter’s Syndrome and was told at the time I would probably simply “grow out” of it. Which I did, though I’ve read it stays with some people for life. There was no treatment at the time, at least my Family Doctor offered none, and doing a quick search I see that only vitamin therapy has mixed results.
My nine-year-old has intermittently been awakened by pain in her lower legs and ankles for the past three years. “Growing pains” was the best explanation her pediatrician could come up with, and if I give her an ibuprofen tablet, she generally just goes back to bed and gets to sleep within half an hour. Because it usually takes longer than that for ibuprofen to take effect, I suspect that I could get the same effect by giving her, say, a children’s vitamin tablet. I haven’t tried it because I’m rarely motivated to experiment at two in the morning.
Have her checked for Osgood Schlatter. It’s not that big a deal–it’s mainly a label for what ails her, so you feel better being able to put a name to it. My son had it from age 13 to about age 15. Eventually they outgrow it, but here are exercises you can do that will strengthen the leg muscles and minimize the pains. There’s also an assortment of different knee braces and straps (velcro, etc.) that can help. But it was the exercises that did the trick for us.
If your baby doctor doesn’t recognize it, or seems unable to deal with it, find a Sports Medicine doctor, he’ll know all about it and can teach your daughter the exercises.
Not “here are exercises”, 'cause the links are just info, but “there are exercises”. The Sports Medicine guy needs to demonstrate and be sure she’s doing them right.
For an alternate hypothesis, try this site. In a nutshell: one Dr. Paul St. Amand has been researching the causes of fibromyalgia, a poorly understood syndrome categorized by muscle pain, for many years. His hypothesis is that fibromyalgia is only one of a plethora of syndromes caused by a metabolic disorder resulting in an inability to purge excess phosphate from the body. Among other things, he believes that growing pains may be one of the symptoms. From the page:
I also was awakened with severe pain in my calves as a child. It was cramps. My mother would have me eat a banana as a snack. Bananas are high in potassium and potassium helps to prevent cramps. Also if that did not work or when I got sick of eating bananas, Mom would tell me to lay on my back and flex my toes toward my body. This little exercise stretches the calf muscle and makes the cramp go away. I hope this helps.
What are generally considered to be “growing pains” are not the same as muscle cramps, nor are most of the sufferers (as near as can be determined) later discovered to have fibromyalgia.
Certainly I wasn’t. I suffered from aches in my shins and knees from about age 6 until age 12 or so. It was classically intermittent, and yes, they were bad enough to keep me from sleep. I cried myself to sleep more than once from frustration and pain. I suppose there might be something to the psychosomatic aspect, but I do know that nothing helped much. Heating pads and/or massage would allow me to sleep, and I’d be fine in the morning, but it’d be back.
:shrug:
Alls I know is, I’m going to have a lot of sympathy if my kid develops them.
I used to get them usually when it was kinda cold(early spring) and i was wearing shorts around the house. They were on my shins, so it was the bones. Because it was cold, maybe wearing warmer clothes helps(It didn’t feel cold to me, i think it may have been some small draft that i didn’t notice).
I had pain in my knees as an adolescent. It seemed to be centered mainly on the protrusion below the kneecap in both legs. I never found anything that really helped, but that was before Aleve and Advil and the other stuff we have today. If I ever have a child who complains about it, he will have my sympathy.
RR
I’ve had “growing pains” all my life (now 37) in my arms and legs. More when I was a child, only a few times a year now. Usually, it happens if I’ve been on the go a lot and it always happens at night and yes, it does keep you from sleep. Rather than take pain killers, my solution is wrapping a long bandage fairly tightly around the affected area and then lying still. After a few minutes, the pain dies down.
At 23, my growing pains have never gone away, even though I’m obviously not growing. They started at about 6 or 7, and the doctor told my mother number of times that they were growing pains. Now, a few times a month I still get agonizing pains in my knees, that usually travel up my legs to my hips after a few hours. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve figured that they must be something besides growing. They don’t seem to have anything to do with my level of activity, from what I can tell.
As a child, my wife often experienced ‘growing pains’ and when she grew up they dissappeared. (she is now 50 yeaars old)
A couple of years ago when we moved to a place with a warmer climate, she began to get around more often without shoes and the growing pains returned.
A sports doctor recommended she use orthopedic inserts in her shoes. He said that walking without any shoes on allowed her foot to ‘pronate’ or roll inwards and without the support of the shoes it caused stress in her shin muscles (similar to ‘shin splints’ that runners get from running on hard surfaces)
After using the inserts, the growing pains have stopped once more. Maybe growing pains in kids are a result of the kids running on hard surfaces with no shoes on, or shoes that don’t provide enough support or cushioning?
I, too, was subject to lower-leg pain as a child. It definitely wasn’t muscular in nature - rather, it was a general ache about the region, feeling as if it were emanating from my bones.
And I, too, experience these very same pains as an adult (am now 38). Thing is, I now only get them when I haven’t had at least a quasi-decent night’s sleep – if I’m reasonaly rested, I never notice them.
Doctor’s will often prescribe quinine tablets for adults having, what are described as, “night cramps” in their legs. I have found that, instead of taking a quinine table every day, a small glass of tonic water with quinine at bedtime works just as well. My son complained of growing pains. I was sympathetic; having suffered them myself. I gave him a small glass of quinine and it alleviated the pain. It worked like magic. We keep it around the house and he drinks a small glass, occasionally, when the pain reoccurs. It always relieves the pain within a few minutes.
I am not a doctor. I do not diagnose anything. I have been working as a practical nurse for twenty years. As a nurse, I help people feel better.
My father had complained of shooting pains that were diagnosed as arthritis. Tonic water with quinine has completely relieved the pain. I have also recommended it for people who have had various night time complaints related to pain in their legs with much success. Even without knowing the cause of mysterious pains in people’s legs, I would say that a glass of tonic water with quinine at bedtime is certainly worth a try. Be sure to check the ingredients for QUININE.