Growing Pains, Are They Really Painful?

I can remember having horrible leg pains as a child - "growing pains." My 4 yr. old daughter started having the pains in her legs when she was 3 as well. She is also large for her age - 44" and 47 lbs. I massage her legs, give warm baths, and ibuprofen and that usually does the trick!

I see you have a lot of responses, so I'll keep mine brief. I strongly suggest you see a chiroprator. My chiropractor said that growing IS NOT painful; tho that is the common belief. I'm not saying he's 'ill' and something serious could be wrong..no, no, no. But he may need an adjustment. I go to Adjustments for Life and highly recommend it.
Good luck! =)
Devon

Yep. sounds like growing pains to me and they will pass. I used to get them as well. and my mom says that I started having leg aches at his age as well. It is miserable for him and you! so sorry! Keep up with the meds when he needs them and other than that he's just going to have to deal. Also if you have time my dad used to rub my legs and that helped a lot!

We have been through this with all of our boys. They wake up in the middle of the night screaming because their legs hurt. All we have done is rub their leg and comfort them. Sometimes we give ibuprofen to help with the pain but rubbing seems to help the best. Some friends of ours bought her son a pair of socks from Niken and swears by them. Her little boy actually asks for them now when he wakes with leg aches. I have not purchased them yet but they seem good. I have used the Niken patches on my forehead for migraines and they work so fast. My boys have just liked the rubbing in the painful area. My mother in-law had told me about my husband waking as a child with these horrible growing pains in his legs in so much detail that when our oldest, now 13, woke for the first time with it around 3 years of age, I knew what it was. Good luck with it.

If his legs are bothering him and he has "charley horses" the best thing to do is make sure he gets more calcium. His bones are just growing fast. Best to talk to your pharmasist. He can recommend something for your sons age group.

My 2yo had growing pains for awhile. We really tried to stay away from meds, but used a homeopathic that worked wonders. It is called Traumeel. A couple drops in water and her legs felt better. We also added a liquid cal/mag supplement that helped as well. There is also a powdered one called Natural Calm that you dissolve in water. They have both Mag and Cal/Mag versions.

Good luck.

Hi M.,
My Son is going through the same thing. He's 4 years old and has been complaining about his legs hurting. A couple of days later I would check his height and sure enough he would be slightly taller. I wouldn't worry too much, yes they are growing pains and they DO hurt. All the Best.........J.

My 3 year old has already had growing pains. So it is possible. Ibuprofen helped him too -- so did rubbing his legs. As tall as you mention he is, I'm surprised he hasn't had them already!
As someone already mentioned, if it keeps up for a while, you might want to take him to see the doctor just to be safe. (or call and see if their nurse thinks he needs to be seen)

I have this same problem with my 3yo. She just had her check-up this morning and her pediatrician said it was growing pains. We rub our daughters legs and encourage her to go back to sleep. Her doc also said to tell them if they go back to sleep they will feel better. Our daughter always woke up with out any pain. I was concerned it could be something more serious, but what we do seems to work. Our daughter wants Tylenol for her discomfort, so we have been in the habit of telling her that if she goes back to sleep she will feel better.

I second everyone's advice. My 6 and 4 yr old started getting them at 3. The only thing I would add is to make sure your child stays hydrated. We always give them some weak Gatorade when they are having pains and it really seems to help. We also give it to them the next day to avoid another episode and that seemed to work also. Best of luck!

A.

The things I've found that have really helped are bananas - they are high in magnesium, and Tums. Tums have a lot of calcium, and really seem to do the trick. They can't hurt. Give him a couple an hour before bed and just see if it helps. It has helped several of my kids.

Both my kids get them...water and gatorade help; so does a heating pad and massage. I try to hold off on actual meds unless the pains are truly bad.

Hi M., yes, growing pains are painful. When you think about the fact that the body is moving beyond its current boundaries & stretching then you'll have a sense of what that can feel like. The herbal remedy called alfalfa is very helpful for growing pains and it can never hurt him in any way. Alfalfa is green which means it's loaded with oxygen. Anything with chlorophyl in a plant (green)translates as more oxygen in the body. You'll find this remedy at any health food store in their natural living section.
Also, I just saw your response about the amount of milk your son drinks. You'll add a better version of calcium to his diet through green vegetables. The truth about milk is that it leaches calcium from the body and you'll only hear that from sources outside of the AMA.
Cheers, J.

Yes, I had growing pains when I was as young as two. My sister had them so bad she'd cry. My youngest sister had them in her back and she had days where holding her head up hurt. I'd just massage the sore areas with a lotion and if it gets really bad use a heating pad wrapped in a towel. That might help. Good luck!!!

It is a possibilty. He needs more magnisum(SP) in his diet it wil help. I also found tha an increase in milk helped to make the pain go away.
C. B

Yep, went through it with all 3 sons! A hot bath, Tylenol, extra milk/yougurt etc., bananas and Gatorade, leg massages. They do grow out of it eventually...

My daughter and grandchildren have had this problem their entire lives. When my daughter had just barely turned 1 year she had her first one. Out of the clear blue she threw herself backwards and started screaming. She couldn't tell me vocally what was wrong, but I deduced that it was her legs by the way she was acting. I watched this go on periodically her whole life. It always seemed to be her legs only. Now her 6 year old daughter and 3 year old son have shown signs of having the same problems. So the answer to your first question is YES, he absolutely can be having growing pains.

Now the 2nd question is a bit tougher. I never found anything to be 100%, but a pain reliever did offer her some relief. I could never get a doctor to do anything about it. They would all just say it was growing pains and there was nothing that could be done. Unfortunately I think we just have to deal with a few growing pains ourselves as we watch them endure this.

My 4 year old has been waking up in the night every 1-2 weeks crying about her knee or leg hurting. I remember my 15 year old having the same thing when she was around that age. It is growing pains. I can remember how they felt. They hurt! I usually rub her leg, give her a cool ice pack or heating pad ( I let her tell me what feels good) and almost always end up giving her tylenol/ibuprofen. Tough part of growing!! Good luck.

I have a vivid memory--and I remember waking up at night in so much pain from growing pains. I was in so much pain my parents took me to the ER one time, they gave me IB profin said drink lots of milk and rub the muscles and suggested trying to soak in a hot bath before bed. So you did good! ;) I've been conscientios of my dd because of my memories. We rub her legs often esp. if she is waking up at night.

My now 12 year old went through growing pains as well. It was told to me that it could be a lack of calcium during a period of growth and I began to encourage a large glass of (chocolate milk before bedtime) and it really did help if he had a glass of milk he would not wake up. But, wow they seemed painful to him! Good luck!

I really don't know if growing pains are supposed to be that painfull, but I did read in a sleep book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" that the so called growing pains are sometimes just a sign that the child isn't getting enough sleep. Sleep is one of the bodies times to grow and so, mayby try getting your son a little more sleep and maybe he won't complain of leg pains as often.

Yes! They are really painful.

Yes they are very painful. I had them when I was growing up, even in high school, and they hurt so bad I couldn't even walk. My son who is 4 gets them and he cries in pain, just like I did when I was growing up. What I do is watch how much activity he has during the day. If he does a lot of running, jumping, etc, then before bed I give him a dose if ibuprofen,(okayed by the Dr.) and usually it settles him in for the night. Also before I go to bed I check and make sure that his legs are covered, cold will cause them to ache more. The Dr. told me that it was okay to give him ibuprofen everyday for a week if he is going through a growth spurt. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, give him some ibuprofen, try to see if his legs are cold and try to warm them, and rub them. It will relax him quickly and the pain will go away faster.

Growing pains can be quite normal. My only suggestions would be to has is spine checked by a chiropractor. When I was young I had bad growing pains. I would wake up crying with them. Later we found that I had Scoliosis. It wasn't a bad case but it didn't help the leg and foot pain I was having. I don't remember my feet and legs hurting as often or as much after being adjusted. I really hope this is a short phase for your son.
-M.

It could be growing pains, but I would get it checked out further. Hopefully, it's just the growing pains, but it could be worse. Last year, my 4 year old daughter started doing that where she was crying in the middle of the night complaining that her knees hurt. They were swollen and I took her to the doctor. He said they were just growing pains. Needless to say, over four months later, they were getting worse and she was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. It kills me to know that she was suffering this excruciating pain for so long and could have been treated earlier. I always thought of arthritis as an "old person" disease and didn't realize they could get it at 4 years old. I found out that a lot of pediatricians don't know what signs to look for, but the disease is more common than people think. The good thing is that there's a huge chance that she can go into remission and not have to worry about it the rest of her life (juvenile patients have a better recovery rate). Hopefully, this is not what is happening with your son, but if it is, with treatment, the pain should be able to stop.

I don't know what it's like for a 4 year old, but if the growing pains your son has is the same as Ozgoodslaughter (sp?) disease ... from personal experience, it is VERY painful. I found out that I had that growing disease (when your bone is growing faster than your tendons and it stretches the tendon causing lots of pain) when I was about 14 years old and it was extremely painful. Ibuprofen helped me, but also wearing a brace around my knees helped and if possible, find activities that don't require a ton of knee pounding (like avoid running as much as possible... which sounds rediculous to say to someone with their 4 year old :S sorry...) that should help with the pain. It can come and go though, but if you're not sure if it is caused by growing, you might want to go get his knees checked out. best of luck!

yes growing pains are painful. I remember them myself and I am 42. I am now a massage therapist and I contribute part of that to my mom massaging my legs. I now massage my 2 boys legs as often as possible since they are 4 and 8. They tell me how much they love me massaging but watch your pressure. A fast rub up and down is called a flush and it helps to get the lactic acid moving out of the muscles. Make sure you finish your stroke towards the heart not the feet. Maybe you can call some massage school or therapist and get some hands on training for a hour. I am in Fort Collins, CO if you want. I just don't like depending on to much medicine. Calcium is great. But do talk to your doctor to calm your fears if you need to. Take care and God bless.
M. Van

Hi M.,
My step sons had growing pains, they were early teens. I would check with your doctor and just make sure since he is so young but I would imagine growing pains is it. Also find out for sure what kind of meds work best to help.
Good luck,
SarahMM

My daughter has the same thing. Whenever she has a growth spurt, her legs hurt. My husband remembers very painful growing pains as well. We give her ibuprofen if she is really hurting, and we also drink lots of extra milk. The calcium really helps.

It's normal and it's painful. We were able to get relief by implementing a number of measures. Bio freeze helped, ibuprofen and increasing calcium/magnesium,zinc intake did too. Heating pads can offer relief, too. We struggled for awhile and still do occasionally, but those things worked wonders along with leg massages with lotion or oil. Hang in there....

Hi M.,
I had growing pains when I was little too. I REMEMBER them vividly because they really did hurt. My Grandma would rub and massage my legs for me. That was the only place I would get them. In my knees and legs. I don't think there is anything more you can do about them except the Ibuprofen and a little massage.
Both of those helped me when I was little. Now my 5 year old is complaining about leg aches too. Just goes with the territory I guess.
Have a great day!

Yepper! Try giing them some Motrin to relax if you use that. Or I have Hylands Forte' Calm natural pathis. Then have them get up to walk to the bathroom and back to bed..walk. And then rub his feet and shins. This should help him relax enough to get to sleep eventually. This too shall pass. and then you are out buying new shoes!

Hi. I had these pains throughout my childhood, even into the teen years, and they hurt a lot. I would take them seriously, though I don't know if that's what is going on with your little boy.

Hi M.,
My daughter went from a 2T last summer to a 5/6 this summer. Every night she complained of her knees hurting. We gave her ibuprofen and took her to see the doctor. She asked if Sarah's knees were hot to the touch or red when she experienced these bouts of pain. If that is the case with your son, I'd strongly consider taking him to his pediatrician to check for arthritis. If it is just growing pains, they will eventually subside. Either way, ibuprofen really helps!

It is absolutely possible. Just think how fast those little bones and muscles are expected to grow. Both of my children had this issue. For us it seemed to come in phases. During those times it was helpful, and fun, to get into a routine of stretching and massaging my girls' legs once they got into bed. It became a betime routine that they enjoyed and also seemed to help them to sleep without getting the cramps and severe aching that would wake them up. Also, just telling them what the issue was seemed to calm their fears and helped them to sleep also. Just by labeling the discomfort as growing legs, that sometimes legs get sore from all the hard work of growing, that seemed to help my girls from being too upset by the pain.
Take care,
B.

Very possible. My son who is four is tall and larger for his age too and last year had growing pains a few times at night. Aches in his shins, thighs and calves. It is normal and if boys are growing fast it seems they get the worst of it. I would say it is probably similar to a leg cramp for us or if we have a charley horse.
Motrin is good as it lasts all night it seems. If it continues more then a week, take him in though just to be safe. Also for him I would massage the area and that seemed to help a bit too, we did this before bed, a dose of tylenol or motrin and he did a lot better.