OT: Can growing pains get this bad?

[AnaheimGirl]

Hi all,

This isn't Disney-related, but I'm hoping some other parents can help me out.

My 2yo has had terrible pain in legs (both of them) for the past 2 days. So bad, she cannot walk, or even stand up. I took her to the doctor yesterday morning, and he thought it was "growing pains", but when he saw her, she was the best she's been for 2 days, and walked a few steps for him. Since then, it's gotten worse, and she's not been off her bum since. She cries when she has to stand up for a few seconds for me to pull her pants up after going potty. I talked to the doctor again, and he sent us to the lab to get some bloodwork done, but we won't have those results till later.

Obviously, I'm hoping it's something as benign as growing pains, but I've never heard of them being this bad. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you,

[zurgswife]

My son has had them since is was young....not quite as sever...but I usually put ice packs on the knees and shins and that seemed to give him some relief....

But they did come and go...if it stays too long I would take her back to the dr.

[DisneyBee]

Yes, they can be that bad. My DS (13 now) had them through 2nd grade and there were times when he would cry and cry from the pain. It was especially bad when he would be at school would have to sit "Indian" style on the floor for assemblies, etc. We had numerous tests done to rule out other things because we were so afraid. Our doctors told us it occurs frequently in kids who have a large bone frame, which he does, and who will be very tall adults.

Just use ice when necessary and ask your doctor about over the counter pain relief. I know it's little help now, but it will come to and end. Good luck!

[gr8ful4Him]

Aggie, :grouphug:
I know that must be difficult for you to see your dd in so much pain. Will pray that they are just growing pains and nothing more than that. Please update when you find out more info.

[kat3668]

I'm a preschool teacher and a child in my class was diagnosed with this


Toxic synovitis


Toxic synovitis (transient synovitis) is an inflammation of the lining of the joint space of the hip. Toxic synovitis is the most common cause of hip pain in children. It occurs most often in boys between the ages of 4 and 10.

Toxic synovitis commonly follows a mild injury or an illness with low-grade fever, such as tonsillitis or an ear infection.

Symptoms include:

A hip joint that is tender to the touch.
Pain that moves from the hip down the thigh and knee.
Pain with hip movement.
A limp.

Sounds like the same kind of symptoms your little one has...

she was also 2 at the time and a girl too

[mommic32]

I can tell you from experience, I know that it's not winter,, but when my daughter got the flu, the legs cramps were the 1st symptom to appear and 2 days later she had a case of full blown flu...

[Nicolepa]

My daughter has been having them for 2 years (on and off). Sometimes they get so bad that she cries and cries and won't walk. They will wake her up from her sleep frequently too. Tylenol usually works really well for her.

[mommi97]

I have been getting leg pains since I was young, the advice I have is not ice but warmth. Sometimes after sleeping and if they curl up they are cutting the blood circulation warmth helps the blood circulate through the legs. I now have a heated waterbed which helps but I still wake up with pain some nights.

[MATTERHORN]

I agree, my DD now 4 gets this about every three months or so, wakes her up in the night and she comes in and the only thing that helps is me rubbing her legs for a LONG time till she falls back asleep. It only happens at night for us, but I have noticed and read research that it will happen after a particularly active day, which has been the case for us. Good luck!

BTW, I had never had this growing up and always thought it was fake, like an old wives tale. I didn't believe her at first, then thought something else must be wrong, now after researching a lot, I know better. I hope she feels better soon!

Andrea

[abaldacci]

There're other things which causes pain in the legs I would be more concerned if it were in the hip area. children can have AVASCULAR NECROSIS of the femoral head. I would ask the DR. to order a MRI or a Bone scan if the child keeps having pain.

[MrsMcNally]

YES, my son had them the same way you are describing. He said he could not walk or anything. They ran a full battery of test, urine, blood, etc..... Nothing. They said it was growing pains. I was so scared though because you think something is actually really severly wrong with them. I totally remember freaking out. It will pass.

[golfgal]

Another thing to ask your dr about is rhumatoid arthritis. A freinds DD was acting just like that when she was about 3 and after several months of doctoring they discovered she had that. Did your Dr do any testing? If not, I would see another. Something is wrong, even if it is just growing pains, the dr should have looked into it a bit.

[gr8ful4Him]

I know this may not be a "traditional" thing to do, but you might want to visit with a chiropractor. When I was younger, I had an incident where I had an extreme pain in my hand that grew worse as the night went on. I didn't remember doing anything, but I couldn't really move it by the time I went to bed. We went for x-rays and all, but the traditional doctor could find NOTHING wrong. I went to the chiropractor the next day and she checked me out...turns out I had jammed my elbow! Two adjustments later, I was all better!

[magical4us4]

Please get tested for Lyme Disease.

[SueM in MN]

My DD's both had very bad growing pains. Since youngest DD has cerebral palsy and has tight muscles to begin with, she had a very bad time. We had the benefit of going to an orthopedic surgeon because of her cerebral palsy, so we got the medical explanation of what actually happens.
When people say that kids grow overnight, that isn't an old wives tale. They actually don't grow at an even rate. They do all of a sudden shoot up. The bones grow first, and as someone else noted, kids who are going to be tall tend to grow more in one "leap".
The bones grow first and the muscles and tendons are stretched by the newly grown bones, which makes the muscles cramp. The stretching stimulates the muscles and tendons to grow to match the length of the bones. Once they are proportional with the bones, the stretching stops and the pain goes away (until the next growth cycle starts again).

If something hurts when they do it, small children often anticipate it will hurt the next time they do it (whether it actually does or not), so they cry and/or avoid doing that activity or they may tense the muscles in anticipation (which makes it hurt more).
Heat usually is better at relaxing muscles, so heat may work better than cold for this. Also, if you rule out other things and it is growing pains, it may be useful to have a consultation with a Physical Therapist, who can teach you some ways to relieve muscle cramps. That was very helpful for us.

[DisneyMomx7]

PLEASE, ask your doctor to have a bone scan done. Although it is extremely rare my son was only three when he was diagnosed with childhood bone cancer. Thank goodness our pediatrician didn't dismiss it as "only growing pains" which several of the parents of other children with bone cancer told me their doctors did.

I hestitate to write this because I don't want to scare you and it most likely is nothing at all like what we went through, but I just wouldn't take the chance. Get the test and you'll know you don't have to worry about a serious or life threatening illness.

[daksmom11]

I pray that they are only growing pains. My DS10 has been complaining alot about his legs lately and his doctor told me the same. But he suggested a drug free way to relieve the pain and that was to drink more water. Believe it or not it has helped tremendesly.I hope this helps.

[DisFlan]

Good luck.

[NotUrsula]

But he suggested a drug free way to relieve the pain and that was to drink more water. Believe it or not it has helped tremendously.

If water helps, then the problem is dehydration. One of the symptoms is pain in major muscle groups. When I was nursing I ended up with horrendous pain in my calves for that reason.

[ladyelle]

Three of my five children have been having growing pains in their legs since they have been 2 years old. They are now 6 and 8. My husband remembers having them also as a little boy.
The growing pains usually happen in the middle of the night. They wake up crying and can hardly walk from the pain. What seems to help is tylenol, bengay and rubbing their knees and shins.
We also disccussed it and still do each visit with their doctor.
Good luck to you!

[poohpcgirl]

I would definately suggest going to the doctor if it persists, just to be sure. But yes, growning pains can be that bad. I was almost 6 feet tall by the time I was 13. I used to have horrible pains in my legs and could not move. It did not last more than a day or so. But warmth worked best for me. I loved heating pads...ahhhhhh..
Keep an eye on it, but I wanted to say from experience, that it can be growing pains.
Good luck!

[It's A Happy Day]

My ds4 has been having them now for 2 years. It is scary as h*** when it is going on and even scarier when you start going through tests to make sure it's not something worse! My son would wake up from a dead sleep screaming...would scare the heck out me. After running tests it was deemed "growing pains" My son has grown rapidly (has some stretch marks to show for it), is not overweight and is very active. Sometimes (as it was explained to me) if the child is going through a rapid growth spurt the bones are pulling and this causes the pain. It usually bothers them more at night - because they have settled down and aren't too busy to notice it vs. while they are running around all day - just like an adult who works out too much and can't move the next day. My doctor recommended pretreating my son on over exerted days by giving him tylenol before bedtime. Good luck, I'm sure it will all work out for you and everything will be okay.

[barkley]

i would strongly suggest that you first insist on xrays being taken of her legs and when the results are in take your daughter to a pediatric orthopedist for evaluation. my daughter fell off of her bicycle in early may and when her arm was xray'd at the er, in addition to a small fracture it was discovered that she had a bone cyst that involved almost her entire humerus (upper arm bone). basicly the portion of bone affected looked like a drinking straw-thin exterior shell of bone with nothing inside. long story short-within 3 weeks she had surgery to clean out the space and fill it with bone graft. she's doing fantasticly well now.

in researching this as well as discussing it with my pediatrician and pediatric orthpedic surgeon i learned that this most often occurs in the large bones of the arms and legs, and is most often not discovered until a child takes a fall that results in needing an xray. my pediatrician has had 2 cases in the past year, one a young teen who had broken his leg boogie boarding, and another a toddler who had taken a tumble learning to walk. both were discovered to have this condition and received the appropriate treatment. although there is not always pain associated with the occurance of the bone cyst, it can be an indication that a bone cyst or bone anuerism (treated in much the similar way) is occuring.

if you are concerned that your doctor is not taking this as seriously as he/she should be go to another (if you have an hmo and that is not an option p.m. me and i can give you some tips on how to get past your "gatekeeper" with relative ease such that your insurance carrier will still cover her).

i am confident you and she will be fine.

[summersfam4]

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your sweet one! Hopefully it's nothing more than growing pains, but good for you for calling your Doctor back so that now you are getting some testing done. Please keep us updated.

Kelly

[AnaheimGirl]

Thank you so much, everyone, for all the replies. Here's an update,

Right after I posted this, her temp went up to 103 degrees. Labs came back with an elevated white cell count (but not real high), and something else elevated that's an indicator of inflammation, so doctor thinks she's fighting some sort of infection that has manifested in a strange way. Did a strep test, because he said strep sometimes comes out in wierd ways, it was negative. They also tested for rhumetoid (sp?) arthritis (and a couple other things), but haven't got the resuts back on those yet.

She woke up Saturday morning feeling much, much better, but still walking a little wobbly and still had a little fever. By Saturday night fever and pain were completely gone. Yesterday, she was back running around, dancing and climbing all over everything.

So thanks for the good wishes, everyone, and a few questions...

kat3368, albadacci, magical4us4: I'm thinking that the pain wouldn't have gone away if it was something like this, is that right?

Disneymomx7: Don't worry about scaring me. I was already worrying about bone cancer and rare bone infections. I'm also thinking the pain would still be there if it were bone cancer, wouldn't it? Did your son's pain come and go? I'm sorry you and your family had to go through that, and I hope that he's doing well now.

barkley: I'm glad to hear your daughter is doing well now. I realize she wasn't in pain from this condition before her fall, but do you know, when the cyst causes pain, does it come and go, or is it pretty constant? Also, does this condition affect one bone at a time? One thing the doctor told me about bone infections, is that they are generally localized to one spot. Since my dd had pain in both legs, he didn't think that's what it was. I'd think that cancer and cysts would likely be the same way, right?

Thanks again everyone.

[Drizzo67]

AnaheimGirl - So happy to hear that your DD is feeling better. My DS (now 10) wnet through the same thing. He did have an infection that was treated with antibiotics and has had no reoccurance. (Knock Wood). His manifested in his joints, knees, hips, ankles. Within a day of starting his medication he was his old self again (he was 5 at the time).

Now, relax and enjoy getting ready for your vacation.

[gigi1313]

i will admit i did not read thru all the posts on the thread, just responding to the op...

when my son was 3yo he had the same symptoms... we took him to the dr and his electrolytes were out of balance... a few days of lots of gatorade, and he was back to his old self... it was really scary... he was too big for the stroller, i could not carry him so i had to bring the wagon in the car just to get him into the dr's office!

i hope it's a "quick fix" for your dd and all will be well soon!

[chrisn]

And the answer to your original question is YES, growing pains can be that bad. My DS was 2 when he started having them. The weird thing for us was that textbook growing pains usually occur more frequently at night. DS's never did. It was always during the day either at home or at school and it was not consistent. It was almost like flareups. He would get the pain for a few days or a week or 2 then not have it for weeks or months, then it would flare up again. There were times when he couldn't walk or put pressure on them and the pain was always in the shin or knee region. I even remember him having it during a WDW trip when he was 5. He rode in the stroller the entire time. I had him to the DR and tested for this 3-4 times over a 2-3 year period and believe me they tested him. The first thoughts in my mind were Bone Cancer or Leukemia. They did Blood work, x-rays, etc. Everything always came back normal. His symptoms were close to Rheumatoid Arthritis so they tested him for that several times. I was so paranoid, I could not believe that growing pains could be that bad. I am happy to say that he will be 8 in two weeks and hasn't had any pain at all for well over a year now but I definitely know what you and some of these other mother's are going through. Good Luck!

[weeyore33]

same here, my son 8 now has these off and on and like one earlier post, the only relief he has is massage, and i have been up plenty of nights, freaking out thinking there is something wrong with him. my other son12, has had a couple of problems but motrin always worked, and worked fast, it always seems to be the legs, the shins, they both complained of the shins. hope your daughter is ok and all other tests come back ok.

[cl1067]

I have a daughter with rheumatoid arthritis. I noticed that you said they drew blood work for this...just to make you aware, not all children with rheumatoid arthritis show it through bloodwork, which is why it is often misdiagnosed. For our daughter, it took 3 months of going to specialists and finally going back to our family dr, before we found someone who knew what it was...and she is a textbook case. Not saying this is it, but if the symptoms persist, do not let your dr. rule it out just because the bloodwork came back negative.

Also, from this we learned that growing pains only occur at night. If kids have joint pain happening at another time of the day, its probably something different.

[gigi1313]

totally o/t but cl1067 i *love* your ticker (babygaga) in your siggy... that's great! health and blessings to you and your little growing one! :flower:

[rgribik]

Did your Dr. consider what they call fifth's disease? It comes with mod. to severe joint pain, fever and sometimes a red rash. My kids got it one year, and that is how they reacted. Then I got it(rare in adults) and I couldn't even walk down the stairs, my ankles and legs hurt so much. Lasted for a few days, then was gone. I was so freaked out when I got it, called my dr. sure I was a gonner. After they figured out I did get it after my kids, the office all thought it was real funny(They are all friends of mine). Hope everything is better!

[marcyinPA]

My ds10 has been suffering from leg and foot pain since he was a wee one. We have had tons of bloodwork, plus he has been to a podiatrist because of severly flat feet. Even with the orthotics in his shoes, he still has leg and foot pain from time to time. It's not constant, but he will have a week of symptoms followed by a few months of none. We thought maybe he had Restless Leg Syndrome, but since it's not constant, I'm not sure it's that.

He actually describes his symptoms as "tickling" and not pain, but it's enough to drive him to tears.

I'm glad your daughter is OK...my friends neice had the same problem...a virus which led to her not being able to walk...high fever, and severe pain. I guess it's pretty common??

[TweetieSC4]

Just wanted to throw in my 2cents...

My mother was told that I had "growing pains" when I was 2 yrs old. I still have them, and I'm almost 32.

My pains were mostly in my knees and sometimes as far down as my shins. I have the problem in both knees. It is a very dull aching feeling deep in the bone (definitely not muscular in my case). If I don't get off my feet, they can get really bad. Also, if I stand up and walk around to quickly after they subside, they will come right back. I ditto some of the other posters... Tylenol, heating pads/hot water bottles, and my mom rubbing my knees for several minutes is what would get me through it. My family used to think I made them up because they would hit at night when I was standing on tile floor helping with the dishes. I notice that if I go barefoot on cold floor, when I'm extremely active, and when the weather changes, I am more prone to get them. My younger sister gets them to a much lesser degree, and has noticed the same thing.

To try and prevent them from coming on, I wear socks and shoes/slippers rather than going barefoot in the house. I take Tylenol and try to get off my feet as soon as I feel them coming on. I keep my legs warm, even in the summer, inside air conditioned rooms.

Good Luck with helping your child through some serious pain! I understand and can sypathize!

[barkley]

hi-in resp. to your question. we were originaly told it could be a bone cyst or bone anuerism. in the case of the bone anuerism it might cause some pain over the period of time it initialy occurs, in the case of the cyst we were told she could have just been "achey" in that arm.
my daughter has complained of pain in her legs before (usualy around a spurt in growth) but had never complained of pain in the affected arm.

i'm so glad to hear that your daughter is feeling better and :Pinkbounc bouncing back! i can think of no greater trial or terror than having a child fall ill and not knowing what is wrong/what needs to be done to help them. we were so very lucky to have delt with some incredible doctors-the adult orthopedist my daughter saw one day at noon made a cell phone to the pediatric orthopedist while we were in the examing room and got us in to see him within 2 hours (and managed to get an out of network referal approved by our hmo by the time we got to his office). the pediatric orthopedist took the xrays home with him mother's day weekend because he knew he would be seeing a friend who was a radiologist. the pathologist who tested her bone material and determined it to be fine opted to send the sample to the mayo clinic for a second testing "just to make sure because they specialize". just incredibly awsome people :love:

take care-hugs to your daughter!

barkley

[ChristyJ]

It's amazing to me how many people in the world (or Dis world in this case :flower: ) can have the same issues...I say this because we have been thru HE** the past five months, trying to figure out what's wrong with my DD8. She jumped on a trampoline one day for a few hours back in April-ever since then, she's had hip pain.
We went to the Dr. several time and were told she had muscle strain-after three weeks, we finally were referred to an orthopedic who did Xrays, then bone scans, then an aspiration of her hip, then an MRI, along with many, many blood tests. After everything, they think she bruised the inner socket of her hip joint.
She seemed to be getting better until about 3 weeks ago-now she's limping again and experiencing pain. We've seen our pediatrican and our orthopedist is on vacation (but will be back on Tuesday). We're just praying for some sort of help for her...
It's so hard when it's your children...

[gr8ful4Him]

It's amazing to me how many people in the world (or Dis world in this case :flower: ) can have the same issues...I say this because we have been thru HE** the past five months, trying to figure out what's wrong with my DD8. She jumped on a trampoline one day for a few hours back in April-ever since then, she's had hip pain.
We went to the Dr. several time and were told she had muscle strain-after three weeks, we finally were referred to an orthopedic who did Xrays, then bone scans, then an aspiration of her hip, then an MRI, along with many, many blood tests. After everything, they think she bruised the inner socket of her hip joint.
She seemed to be getting better until about 3 weeks ago-now she's limping again and experiencing pain. We've seen our pediatrican and our orthopedist is on vacation (but will be back on Tuesday). We're just praying for some sort of help for her...
It's so hard when it's your children...
Have you tried a chiropractor? Many times we throw our backs, hips, joints, etc out of place and the "conventional" doctors don't see anything wrong on x-rays...yet a chiropractor can look at the x-ray and tell you where the joints may be out, and causing excrutiating pain. I've experienced this first hand. I just recommended a friend to the chiropractor because she was having hip/leg troubles...she couldn't even sleep at night it hurt so bad. Turns out her pelvis was knocked out of whack! She's getting relief with the treatments though thankfully. Oh, and don't think that children don't benefit from the chiropractor, because at any age, we can get twisted and turned the wrong ways. ::yes::

[ChristyJ]

We were considering a chiropracter, but I don't know...PT maybe?? :confused3 We're probably headed for more blood tests this next week first.