Osgood-Schlatter disease - any experience in a younger child?

[RunningKatie]

My ds has been tentatively diagnosed today with Osgood-Schlatter disease. He's only just 4 which according to the GP is very young, he's active at nursery etc, but doesn't do any kind of organised sports.

Both knees now have strange lumps, and we've been told he'll grow out of it, and that we'll have to manage it with pain medication.

We're going to see GP next week for them to confirm, we've already had xrays and lots of antibiotics trying to cure the first of the mystery lumps.

Has anyone gone through this before? Am wondering whether this will limit his willingness to be active if it's going to hurt till he stops growing.

I had/have this in my right knee from about age 7. I did lots of school sorts as well as horse riding and it really didn't hold me back. I can remember periods of discomfort but not real pain. Once I was into my teens it never bothered me again - other to still have a slightly pointy lump.
I hope this is reassuring 😄

Antibiotics are not appropriate for OSD

The lumps are caused by extra bone being laid down due to repeated microtraumas/overuse. There is no infection

He needs antiinflammatories, rest, ice and a referral to a paediatric physiotherapist

DSis had this in early teens. She had her leg in plaster for a while after an op (1970s). Doesn't bother her now, except that it aches now and again, so she needs to sit with her leg straight out. She still has a slight lump.

Thank you all, we initially thought it was an infected insect bite hence the antibiotics as it started right after a camping trip. He's got lots of eczema on his legs so any time a GP looked at him then they were thinking it was all connected.

It's only this last few days when the second knee lump appeared that a lightbulb moment has occurred with the GP. I knew someone at Uni with it, and was panicking somewhat that ds would be struggling into late teens. Very relieved to realise it's not the case.

He has already warmed to the idea of announcing his "little legs are tired" and demanding that all 3 stone of him is carried in the sling mummy is clearly a mug

Camping you say ?

Has Lyme disease been ruled out?

Do his knees "crack"? I have this and wasn't actually diagnosed until my 20s, GPs said it was "wear and tear" initially (primary school) and then said that my quad muscles were stronger than some other muscles lower down which is what was pulling on the kneecap and causing the issue (late teens). Finally diagnosed in my 30s, and have the distinctive lump on my shin under the knee. I think you can do physio to allieviate it - generally it has been more of a nuisance to me than a limiting factor, I can run relatively long distance with no problems, though I wasn't "sporty" in my youth. I do remember being a kid on long car journeys moaning that I needed to stretch my legs as I needed to crack my knees and parents not really getting that it was genuinely painful until I could crack them back into place!

My DSis has OS. She was diagnosed at 10 and has had 3 operations over the years. She is still plagued with it and is on crutches at least twice a year in her late 20s. Her knee regularly dislocates and she now has a custom made splint with a mechanical knee section.

Just googled Lyme disease, it hasn't looked like the pic on the nhs website but I think I'm going to have to mention that one to the GP too. Oh heck We were in Derbyshire so not a high population of ticks, but definitely sounds like we need to rule that out too thanks AF

He definitely has distinct lumps under both knees now WuTang, I've not noticed his knees cracking but some days I can definitely see him struggling to bend down and when it initially flared up his knee was so swollen he couldn't climb the stairs.

thatwaslulu - your poor dsis, I dislocate my toes and that's painful enough, the thought of dislocating knees makes me wince.

Dislocating knees are not associated with OSD. The two things can co exist if you were very, very unlucky of course

have you been referred to a fracture clinic/orthopaedic suregon?
whatever it is, it needs investigating and treatment. osd is very unusual in a child this young.

any the consultant she has been under for the last 19 years is very confident it is OS.

You did read my post, didn't you, lulu ?

I did, I was just saying she definitely has OS so she is possibly, as you said, very unlucky. However, the kneecap coming out of place has only happened since the problems started in general so it could be related (in that the pressure on the kneecap from the condition has led to the dislocating).

No. The two conditions are not uncommon during adolescence. OSD does not cause dislocations. They are both growth related disorders but not linked otherwise.

I had this when I was 12, at the time it was put down to me growing very quickly. I ended up with each leg in plaster for 6 weeks and have had no limitations since other than v noisy knees.

We were originally told DD had OS but after four years of problems with clicking, jamming and popping she was recently diagnosed with discoid meniscus and has recently had an operation to, hopefully, correct this.

I feel bad that I didn't ever come back and update this post.

After the second lump appeared on his knee we went in to see the GP as requested.

He decided that it isn't OS afterall. However there is definitely a growth issue there, I've also noticed that when DS takes a tumble - given that he lives life at 90mph this is a fairly regular event - he does tend to land on that knee. It really does hurt him, more so than we would expect for an everyday tumble.

Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciated it.