Growing pains?

Question

My son went to the nurse and the note says

Complaining all afternoon, no sign of injury, denies getting hurt at recess. Applied Ice

I think my son is having growing pains but he say's it hurts above his ankle but below his knee but I just gave him tyenol and he has an ice pack on it and seems fine. Does this sound like growing pains? He is 7

Answer 1

My son is 5 and he has growing pains every once in awhile. Anyone who denies their being such a thing has not sat up all night with a child that is crying and in obvious pain.

According to my doctor a good sign that it is growing pains is that the child wants you to rub the pain or fix it in someway. With an injury, the children do not want it to be touched, for fear it is going to hurt it worse. Many children benefit from massaging the leg or applying ice or heat. Tylenol or Motrim is a good idea because it helps the pain and helps the children relax.

The only thing that concerns me is that this happened during the day. Normally growing pains occur at night, after the children are laying down and relaxing. They are strange because they come at night, are terrible, and then just disappear.

Has your son been partcularly active the last few days? Any spring sports or anything?

Hope he feels better. SD

Answer 2

I agree with SD.  Growing pains happen at night.  Our 4 year old gets them about once a month - terrible pain in his foot and leg.  Our pediatrician said if there's pain during the day, it's probably something else...arthritis is just one of many potential causes of the pain.  If this happens to your son on a regular basis, get it checked out (as I'm sure you'd do anyway).  Good luck.