What are the symptoms of growing pains in children?

During the growth process, children often experience "growing pains" due to bone development and rapid increase in height. At this time, the child's calf will have more obvious pain. This is a normal phenomenon. Generally, there is no need to go to the hospital for treatment. Parents only need to help their children massage their legs, or divert their attention by letting them play games or toys when they feel pain. However, if pathological pain is caused by the child's uncoordinated development, it is necessary to go to the hospital for appropriate examination and treatment. Therefore, parents must have a clear understanding of the symptoms of their children's growing pains, so that when their children feel pain, they can immediately identify whether it is growing pains!

Growing pains are a physiological phenomenon unique to children's growth and development period, and are more common in children aged 3 to 12 years old with normal growth and development. Growing pains mainly manifest as intermittent lower limb pain. The pain is mostly dull, but can also be stabbing or even severe pulling pain. The pain is mostly located in the knee joint, followed by the thigh and calf, or in the front of the calf bone. The pain occurs intermittently at irregular intervals, often at night, lasting from a few minutes to a few hours, without migratory nature, and without restriction of limb movement. The pain is not accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever and rash. There are three main manifestations:

1. Mostly pain in the lower limbs and growing pains

The most common sites of occurrence are the knee, calf, front of the thigh, and occasionally in the groin area, and the pain is usually outside the joint. Typically the pain is bilateral, but unilateral pain may also occur.

2. Mostly muscle pain and growing pain

The pain is mostly muscle pain, not joint or bone pain. There will be no redness, swelling or heat in the painful area.

3. Pain often occurs at night

The biggest characteristic of growing pains is that they almost always occur at night. But don't neglect the daytime. During the day, children are more active, so even if they feel uncomfortable, they may not notice it because they are focused on other things. When the body and mind have relaxed at night and are ready to have a good rest, the "pain" symptoms will make the child feel particularly uncomfortable or even unbearable.