Growing Pains Treatment & Natural Remedies
If youre looking for one more reason to love magnesium, heres one! It makes for a smart and simple growing pains treatment. In this post, well explain;what causes growing pains and how to make growing pains go away.;
Your kid wakes up in the middle of the night crying in pain and clutching her calf. Shes suffered no injuries that you can think of. What could be going on? Growing pains can strike out of nowhere and can range from a mild to significant pain.
Lifestyle And Home Remedies
You can help ease your child’s discomfort with these home remedies:
- Rub your child’s legs. Children often respond to gentle massage. Others feel better when they’re held or cuddled.
- Use a heating pad. Heat can help soothe sore muscles. Use a heating pad on a low setting before bedtime or when your child complains of leg pain. Remove the heating pad once your child falls asleep. A warm bath before bedtime may help, too.
- Try a pain reliever. Offer your child ibuprofen or acetaminophen . Avoid aspirin, due to the risk of Reye’s syndrome a rare but serious condition linked to giving aspirin to children.
- Stretching exercises. Stretching the muscles in the legs during the day may help prevent pain at night. Ask your doctor what stretches might help.
Do Older Children Suffer From Growing Pains
A second type of pain is also often called growing pains. These pains occur in older kids and are thought to come from the demands placed on an active childs muscles throughout the day from playing a sport, running, climbing and jumping, according to Dr. Onel. This type of pain is often felt after activities or later in the day, but rarely wakes children up from sleep.
Its important to remember that kids are very active and some aches and pains are normal, especially if they play a lot of sports, Dr. Onel says. If a child is playing soccer 12 hours a week or taking ballet lessons and dancing 15 hours a week, some soreness may be expected. If a child or teenager seems to be participating in excessive athletic activity, Dr. Onel advises parents to persuade them to listen to their bodies and take a break, especially if they start feeling aches and pains.
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When Should A Parent Be Concerned About Childhood Pain
When is a childs pain a sign of something more serious? Dr. Onel says parents should be on the lookout for the following symptoms:
- Swelling
- Stiffness, especially upon waking up
- Redness
- Walking with a limp
- Persistent pain in the same location that starts to interfere with daily activities
Pain accompanied by fever, a rash or loss of appetite should prompt an immediate visit to the childs doctor, Dr. Onel says.
A more serious problem can be misdiagnosed as growing pains, and if a child is experiencing persistent pain, it may be a good idea to see an expert. Weve seen children with swollen joints and morning stiffness being told they have growing pains, while they were getting progressively worse over weeks or even months, says Dr. Onel. The nice thing about HSS is that we have all the appropriate specialists to make the right diagnosis, whether its a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, a rheumatologist or a sports medicine physician.
How Chiropractic Can Help With Growing Pains
What many people dont know is that sometimes these growing pains are actually caused by issues within the nervous system, and many of these nerves are housed in the spinal column. A chiropractor can do a full evaluation of the spine and nervous system, and apply adjustments when necessary to help facilitate relief.
These gentle adjustments of the neck, spine, and extremities help to realign the body and provide relief to the entire system. These adjustments also serve to decrease inflammation, relieve pressure, reduce nerve irritability, combat pain signals, and ultimately allow the entire body and immune system to communicate and function better.
Help your child find more relief during a period of growing pains. Schedule an appointment online or call 397-6699.
This article is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for in-person advice or care from a medical professional.
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When To Rule Out Growing Pains
There is no typical case of growing pains. But there are some symptoms you wont observe with this diagnosis, Dr. Weinberger says. Another condition is likely at work if:
- The pain is persistent and continues to worsen.
- Your childs pain persists in the daytime.
- The pain is clearly located around a joint or joint inflammation is evident like redness, swelling or stiffness.
- The pain keeps your child from being active.
If you notice any of these signs, you should follow up with your pediatrician so your child can be evaluated.
What Are Growing Pains And When Do They Occur
Growing pains refer to pain patterns kids experience in their limbs. The good news? While certainly uncomfortable, this pain isnt dangerous, so you dont have to worry about any health implications down the road as a result of them. This pain generally crops up in the late evening or during the night, sometimes waking a child up and can last from 30 minutes to several hours. These waves of growing pain can be fairly consistent in some children, while intermittent in others. The frequency of these episodes varies from child-to-child, but between 10-35% of all children experience growing pains at least once. And, come morning time the pain has disappeared.
One of the challenges with growing pains is that it can be difficult to nail down exactly what is causing the pain. However, muscle pain at night is typically linked to overuse during the day. So, if your child is particularly active on the playground or in organized sports, they may be a bit more susceptible to these typical growing pains.
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Who Has Growing Pains
Growing pains usually affect children between the ages of 3 and 12 years. Up to half of all children may experience growing pains at some point, so they are common. Growing pains are more common in active children and in those children with very flexible joints . They may also be more common in children with flat feet.
When To See A Doctor
It is not ideal to use pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, to mask the pain and participate in sports. This may worsen the injuries and pain over time. Seek medical care in the following circumstances .
- Knee pain lasting more than two weeks
- Limping due to pain
- Unable to do sport activities
- Pain while playing sports
- Performance is affected by the pain
- Knee injuries
Never force your teen to participate in sports with knee pain. All cases of knee pain are not related to growth. An orthopedic doctor should evaluate the teen to identify the exact cause.
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Can You Still Grow 21
Although most adults wont grow taller after age 18 to 20, there are exceptions to this rule. First, the closure of the growth plates may be delayed in some individuals . If the growth plates remain open past age 18 to 20, which is uncommon, height could continue to increase. Second, some suffer from gigantism.
Other Dietary Changes ^
Some moms have reported that their childrens growing pains resolved when the removed problematic ingredients from their diet. For one child it was aspartame, for another it was gluten. Though I dont know of any studies that are directly related to either of these substances, it makes sense to me that food sensitivities could play a role if they cause significant inflammation.
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When Should You Call The Doctor
Children mostly hurt their knee during a fall while playing or when they bump their knee against a hard object. In such cases, most of the home remedies, or in certain cases, pain-killing medication or pain-relieving ointments or sprays, should be sufficient.
However, it is recommended to schedule a doctors visit if the knee pain was caused by immense force and is followed by:
- Severe swelling around the knee.
- Severe redness around the knee region.
- Significant pain.
- Tenderness or warmth around the knee joint.
- A popping sound at the time of the knee injury.
It is also advisable to call the doctor if a knee pain was caused by a minor incident but leads to the following:
- Lasts for a long duration, particularly for the entire day.
- The child is limping or shows weakness in the knees.
- The child is unable to bear his or her weight.
- Interferes with the childs sleep patterns.
- The pain is inhibiting the childs normal activities.
Knee pain is not just an irritant for an active child, but can also be an indicator or precursor of long-term problems if not addressed in time. If your child complains of severe or frequent knee pain, it is advisable to see a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.
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Could It Be Arthritis
Yes — it doesnât just affect older people. Itâs common for children to be told the pains in their legs are just growing pains, when they actually have juvenile idiopathic arthritis , says Richard Vehe, MD, director of the division of pediatric rheumatology at the University of Minnesota.
The symptoms can come and go, and itâs a hard disease to pin down, because itâs so unpredictable.
The biggest red flag: âGrowing pains do not involve swelling or pain in the joint,â Vehe says.
“Growing pains really shouldn’t leave lasting signs,â Homme says. They shouldnât affect your childâs movement or lower their strength.
If itâs JIA, he says, their knee will swell and stay that way for a while. The disease can also cause fevers and rashes.
The condition can have lasting effects if it goes untreated. The inflammation can cause changes in bone growth and lead to permanent problems. âMost of our current medicines can prevent or limit further damage, but they donât reverse the damage that has been done,â Lehman says.
Growing pains can also turn out to be bone tumors, both benign and malignant.
âSevere bone pain at night can be associated with a form of benign tumor called an osteoid osteoma, but can also occur with serious bone tumors. Thatâs why children with persistent or severe pain should see a knowledgeable physician and not simply be dismissed as growing pains,â Lehman says.
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Tips To Prevent Knee Problem In Kids
Strengthening the knee muscles and bones through exercise or physical therapy is one way to prevent knee problems in your child.
Listed below are additional tips for preventing knee injuries in children:
- If your child is over-weight, helping him lose weight can reduce the body pressure on their knees and prevent any injuries.
- For children who are active in physical sports, ensure that they perform appropriate warm-up exercises such as Hamstring stretch and Quadriceps stretch before and after the game. This can be followed by relaxing exercises after the workout.
- Daily exercises that strengthen the knee muscles and joints are a must for preventing knee pain. Aerobic exercises for children can also help build stronger leg muscles.
- Learning to bend the knees during jumping or any other physical activity can be very helpful.
- For children in athletics, the use of the right sports shoes that can provide support to the knee can be useful.
- Avoid physical activities such as running up the hill or deep knee bends as these activities put severe pressure on the knees.
- Regular training around the year can improve the overall fitness of your child and prevent common knee-related injuries.
At times, home remedies can also come in handy when treating knee pain if a doctor is not accessible.
What Is Osgood Schlatters Disease
Osgood Schlatters is a temporary growth-related condition affecting the knees in growing kids. It usually presents between the ages of 8 and 15, at the time where bones and muscles are growing quickly and may struggle to keep up with one another.
Osgood Schlatters causes pain and swelling just below the kneecap , where the growth plate of the tibia is located. Growth plates are vulnerable, cartilaginous areas present in growing bones. It is through growth plates that bones are able to grow, by adding new bone to the area. This process continues until we reach maturity and stop growing, when the growth plates turn into solid bone.
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What Is The Treatment
Before initiating treatment, the health care provider should make sure that the child and his or her parents understand what the condition is and that the nature of the pains is not serious. During pain episodes, massaging the painful areas and/or giving mild pain medications may help. In children with very frequent episodes especially children who awaken at night an evening dose of a long-acting pain medication like naproxen may prevent or decrease the pain. Patients with flat feet may benefit from a shoe insert to increase the arch on the inner side of the foot.
Homeopathic Arnica Works Fast For Growing Pains
Lets take note before we move forward that I am not a doctor, nurse or practitioner of any kind, and Im just sharing the knowledge I have as a mom. Please take my advice as you would your neighbors or the crazy lady at your church! This post is not meant to be medical advice.;
This is the little balls that my son was asking for. We have always used homeopathic arnica montana 30c as our magic growing pains balls. Arnica is said to be the first line of defense against any physical trauma. If you only have one homeopathic remedy on hand, this would be a good one.
Because this is a very quick remedy to administer, our little balls are the second option we always reach for.
To use a homeopathic remedy, you put the balls, usually 3, into the lid of the container. Try not to touch them with your fingers because the active remedy is on the outside of the ball and easily rubbed off.
Tip the contents of the lid into the childs mouth, and if they are old enough, instruct them to hold the balls under their tongue. Under the tongue is the fastest way to get the remedy into the bloodstream.
Its okay to use homeopathy even on children, and growing pains dont usually begin until at least age 2, so you dont have to worry about children younger . If the child does wake up again, you can give a second administration of the remedy as soon as 15 minutes later.
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Treatment Of Knee Pain In Kids
In the case of a severe knee injury, you may observe the following in your child:
- Your child is unable to walk or bear his or her weight on the knees.
- Your childs knee looks deformed.
- Your child experiences extreme pain.
- If the child has swelling and numbness near the knee region.
The immediate treatment should be to control the swelling around the knee through the use of the RICE method discussed earlier. This comprises of rest, ice, compression, and elevation, as described below:
Hot Pads Or Hot Water Bottles For Immediate Growing Pain Relief
Heat is definitely the fastest and most effective way to immediately ease the ache of growing pains.
It takes a minute or two to prepare either option, which is why we tend to employ the rubbing and homeopathics first.
We have a microwavable bed buddy like this one or this , and we also have a cute teddy bear version sort of like this, which my youngest has aptly-named Hot Pad . This is honestly the only reason we use our microwave.;Find just about any animal you want here!
You can also make a microwavable hot pad DIY fairly easily by sewing a small cloth bag and filling it with rice. Even a tube sock filled with rice and sewn shut does the trick. Microwave for a minute or two to get to the right temperature. For adults, two minutes, but I find that for children 1 to 1 1/2 minutes is best.
Be ready with a thin sheet or blanket to put between the childs skin and the hot pad, just in case its too toasty for them.
If you dont have and dont want a microwave, I would recommend an old fashioned hot water bottle. It still doesnt take very long to prepare, just as long as it takes for hot water to come out of your tap. Do not use boiling water from the stove in a hot water bottle.
Electric heating pads are not recommended while sleeping, which defeats the purpose for growing pains!
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Back Of Knee Pain Treatment At Home Tested Home Remedies
Enough about the causes. Lets now discuss the solutions to this undesirable pain.
The solution lies in the diagnosis.
What is the cause of the pain?
Is it Arthritis, cramp or a tear in the meniscus.
We have discussed the symptoms of each cause above but if you are unsure still, then you have to consult your doctor.
He/she will ask you about the history of the pain, what is your routine and how often do you report this pain. You might need to have an X-ray or an ultrasound if the doctor deems it to be necessary.
We wont be discussing surgical methods or treatments for each cause, as you have medical websites and platforms for that.
Rather, we would suggest ways to get rid of them while staying at home.
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