First knee pain, now hip- does DD need to be seen?

[strruglingoldteach]

I posted a couple of weeks ago about my 5 year old. She has been complaining of pain behind her knees for about 3 weeks now. From googling, it seemed to be 'growing pains' (both sides, mostly in the afternoon/evening/waking at night) but tonight she complained that her hip was hurting.

So, should I take her to the GP? If so, can I wait till after Christmas? I'm never sure when it's 'bad enough' to go to the doctors.

(She hasn't injured her legs or had any other illness).

Yes I think you should take her to the GP. May well be nothing but it's as well to get it checked. I guess if you take her now at least you will miss the post christmas rush and scrum for appointments.

I was thinking that if I phone tomorrow, I can get an appointment for soon after Christmas. She would only get seen tomorrow if I ask for an urgent appointment, and it wouldn't merit that.

Knee pain can be referred hip pain, so definitely get it looked at. I have no idea if it merits an urgent appointment or not though.

Does she have other symptoms? Like a rash or a fever?

It could be hypermobility. GP is a start but a child physio might be worth a try for assessment?

Does a bit of Calpol or Nurofen Kids help?

Have you tried some stretches?

What physical activity has she been doing at school or clubs? More than normal?

It might settle down after a couple of weeks off school, but you can try to stretch it out and/or treat the pain as you would yourself.

I'm just a mum talking from experience, BTW.

It could be anything or nothing -from growing pains to post-viral inflammation to .... well, just about anything! If it's an inflammatory condition (which it sounds like it might be) ibuprofen might help reduce any swelling but discuss with the pharmacist if there's any history of asthma etc.

Hope the GP is able to advise further...

I would also go to the GP.

Thanks for all the responses. I'll make a GP appointment. To answer your questions- no fever, rash etc. No more physical activity than normal. She does swimming once a week, and was doing a dance club at school- but that finished three weeks ago with no change to the pain. Calpol helps. Haven't tried stretching or ibuprofen, I'll try that next time.

No fever and rash is a good thing then. But I would deffo take her to the gp. Good luck.

My son has hypermobility and he complains of this. I've recently been on here about it. See gp but don't let them fob you off with growing pains. Does she have flat feet? Or fallen arches? X

Do read up on hyper mobility, which could be the cause. I had similar issues as a child and have only been diagnosed formally at 29. I could have saved a lot of time, money, and pain if I'd known and treated accordingly. I have some permanent damage now too.