Growing pains - are they real?!!

[littlevic]

My DD 9, is really suffering at the mo with what I'm telling her are growing pains... She complains almost daily of stabbing pains usually in her legs - always in her joints....just wanted to check with you guys if your kids suffer with them too?! Some have said growing pains aren't real, so a bit confused!

You do have to make sure it's not anything else but yes, they're real.

Is she drinking enough?

When is she getting the pains?

Growing pains have a characteristic pattern of happening at night and the child is fine in the morning. If your DD is complaining if joint pain during the day, or its affecting her walking etc you need to go and see the GP.

Is this something that just recently started happening? Again, if so, I'd make an appointment and see the GP.

Absolutely real, incredibly painful (I had them for a long time and would cry from them) but yeah, make sure it's not something else. My mum would massage my limbs with some of her fancy nice smelling body lotion when it was bad and that helped. Probably as much from the kindness and caring as from the massage, but neither can do any harm really!

Check vit D levels

growing pains- nhs

This is the second thread I have seen on this topic.
My 5 yr old DGS has been in agony after having had scarlet fever.
Has your child been ill recently OP?
I am wondering if it is a post-viral thing.

My DD1 is 7 and has been having growing pains for the last 2 or 3 years. They happen on and off, especially after a busy day such as a trip out involving lots of walking. For DD, they're usually behind her knees.

As the NHS website says, growing pains tend to happen at night or in the evening, so if your DD is having any problems in the day, do get her checked out. There's always the possibility of something more serious like juvenile arthritis.

I remember having them terribly as a child. It was always overnight and in my legs. It really hurts, like an achy pain but v uncomfortable. I used to tie things around my legs to try to stop the pain-probably not the best thing to do but I remember being desperate to get the pain to go away. So, yes...definitely real.

I try to make sure she drinks enough but she probably doesn't :(

Thanks everyone, sounds like a few of you have experienced real pain with them - think I was lucky not to then! I'll keep a note of when they happen, can't really think at the mo if they're at the end of the day or not, I know they're not just in the night... she hasn't had anything in particular apart from a cold which the poor thing suffers from basically all Winter, just goes from one to another - she has a healthy appetite and a balanced diet...
Will keep an eye on her and take her to GP if they get more persistent!
Thanks everyone for your advice!! X

sorry to be a dampener, there is no such thing as growing pains.
pain always has a reason (injury, infection, bad shoes, posture, strain) if there is no obvious reason and the pain doesn't go away than it's worth investigating.

I beg to differ Cromum! I grew very rapidly from age 10 onwards and suffered terribly with severe leg aches (calf) mostly in evening and overnight. I am certain there is such a thing as growing pain. Never had pain in my calves since my growth spurts...

Myself and my children were fobbed off with growing pains. it turned out we have a connective tissue disorder. Can she bend her thumb to her wrist?

sorry to hear that vertigo
but exactly that. 'growing pains' is an excuse for gp's not to investigate properly.
if the pain persists without obvious reason, go and see a gp. you could also see s physio to see where the pain is coming from to give the gp a pointer.
pain is pain, I don't want to minimise, but pain has a reason, sometimes more obvious than others.

As I said on another thread, growing pains are real and pain does NOT always have a demonstrable cause.

However the name should only be giving to pain occurring at night that cannot be explained by anything else. As a PP said, there are other causes for joint pains that should be ruled out before the diagnosis of growing pains is made.

I blame idiotic psychologists who have managed to gaslight the nation into believing that pain isn't real and is all in the head.

My dd is going to go around with a hammer and offer a smash in the knees of the next HCP who suggests pain isn't real then tell them it's all in their head. in her fantasy

Took my son to the docs recently as he said his knees ached often, she sent us to physio and it turns out he needs arch support for his feet, also given him some strengthening exercise to do.

Two of my DSs had growing pains in their legs and lower backs when they were going through growth spurts at 13 or 14. Both of them grew about 15cm in about a year. Their brother didn't get them, maybe because he grew at a more steady rate.

Fifteen! drama . I can't imagine what the bones and ligaments must go through growing at that rate.

is she hypermobile ?

I'm sure that's what caused their discomfort meglet.

They are now 6'2 and 6'3 and both have stretch marks on their lower backs from their growth spurts.

According to a reliable source (the consultant orthopaedic surgeon at our local hospital) yes, growing pains definitely DO exist.

My dd had them around age 9 - apparently it is due to the bones growing quicker than the surrounding muscles and tendons, which have to stretch to accommodate the sudden bone growth before they catch up.

please please help. I'm a very concerned DAD who's 5 year old girl is experiencing severe pain in her right shin so much so it has been 3 and a half months of crying.
We hear its this mysterious Growing pains although its def just one leg not two, it happens day and night def worse in the evenings and night. We are in the process of seeing specialists ortho/podiatry. although GPs don't think that there is anything sinister. But family life has been drastically effected. My happy wee princess is now in misery 80% of the time. Has anybody suffered this similar one leg growing pain scenario please just someone tell me they have suffered this and coped. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are racked with guilt as we are medicating with calpol and nurofen at least twice a day but we can't watch the child suffer HELP