Mysterious pain in 5 yr old's right leg

[emilycl]

My very sporty 5 yr old son has been complaining on and off for weeks about pain when walking on his right leg. In between the period when he is complaining he seems right as rain, runs around and doesn't have any other symptoms at all. He doesn't say that any particular part of his leg hurts (although it might be the hip area) and he has had no injury or accident.

A week or so ago it came back and it was so bad he couldn't walk at all for a full day. We were very worried and took him to the doctor who suggested it might be a delayed symptom of a previous cold. This seemed odd to us but over the next few days it got completely better so we left it.

Then yesterday it came back again and he was hobbling around the house again. Other than the pain walking he seems 100% his normal self. We took him back to the doctor and this time they x-rayed him and said nothing is the matter.

We have tried to find some association for when it happens and the pain might be brought on by swimming lessons (breaststroke in particular) but I am not sure if that is the only cause.

Has anyone seen this sort of problem before?

As your son is very sporty, did your doctor not suggest ligament, tendon or muscle pain? Normally they would advise to take ibuprofen for a few days if there's any inflammation.

I would take him back to the GP- they need to exclude things like irritable hip, perches etc.

*perthes

Thanks babyblackbird. He has already had an x-ray so I hope they tested for perthes. His leg has got better again now and we won't take him swimming I think for a long while. He does also complain of stomach aches fairly regularly. I hope the two aren't connected in any way.

My DD is also 5 and complains about pain, mostly in one leg. She has pigeon toes too so I took her to a paediatric ortho who reckons it's growing pain. In her case probably exacerbated by the inturned feet/legs. She explained that bones grow quicker than muscles so these get tight and painful. A massage and stretches seem to be helping DD. Also light, good quality trainers

Thank you Thisisnotworking. I think I need to go back for a third time and try to see a specialist. It's very sad to see him limping and it's mysterious how it seems to come and go.