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Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive July-December 2004: Growing pains....or not??
I know we have talked about this subject on here before, but I am getting really concerned with my son. He wakes up about 3 to 4 times a week screaming with his knees hurting him. I have to rub them for about 30 minutes and give him pain reliever and then he seems alright. We have been to the Orthopedic Surgeon (sp??) twice and were dismissed with "it's just growing pains". He only saw Jack for about 5 or 6 minutes. This morning he woke up crying again (He already woke up in the middle of the night and had pain medicine) he was shaking all over and ended up trowing up because of the pain. Does this sound normal or should I have the doctor do some test? And test for what?? I just don't believe that it is growing pains. He just turned 4 and he is a tip toe walker. His ped. thinks that his tendon is too short, but the surgeon didn't think so.
When your mommy instinct is going off you need to listen! It does NOT sound normal to me. I would at least go to your ped again. Ask who else to see. It could be a whole miriad of things but I would think you couldn't diagnose growing pains without at least doing some labs.
I would definitely get a 2nd opinion. My ds is also experiencing growing pains and it is nothing like your ds. He just has aches behind his knees. Nothing that a lillle Motrin doesn't take care of. Your ds's pain sounds much more severe. Maybe, it is growing pains, but I would get a second opinion just so that you have piece of mind.
It sounds like my ds's growing pains until you said that the pain was so bad that he threw up. The other thing that concerns me is that he is a tiptoe walker. That puts tension on the legs that they normally don't have to deal with. I'd try for a second opinion but the rest of your description does sound like my ds's pain. It takes a long time to make them go away and it occurs several times per week. Lots of hugs, growing pains aren't easy.
My dd has never experienced growing pains, but I have never heard any of my other friends talk about anything near as severe as your talking about. How is his regular pain tolerence? It could be that he just has a very low tolerance to pain or it could be something more. I would definately have it checked into to be safe though.
I had growing pains in my legs while I was growing up. I would say it was probably my grade school years. I would wake up in the night crying. But, after my mom rubbed my legs for awhile the pain went away. I don't ever remember even taking tylenol or baby asprin or anything like that for them.
I had growing pains as a child, but I don't think they were ever that severe. And I agree that you should trust your mommy instinct, get a second opinion, just to be sure!
(((Joelle))) Erin has really bad growing pains and has since she was two. I have taken her to doctors and they have all told me that they are growing pains. I just didn't believe it at first that there wasn't something seriously wrong. She just had another round of them a few nights ago. They make her cry and I have to give her Tylenol for the pain. She has also thrown up a few times when she has been really crying hard from the pain. I know what poor little J is going through. It's hard to watch them be in so much pain and not be able to do anything except hold them and rub their leg until the medicine kicks in. I have found that Erin doesn't have as many growing pains if I make her eat a banana or drink orange juice a few times a week. I figure it must be the potassium that helps or maybe it's a fluke, but whatever it is, it helps and I am going to keep doing it.
When I was younger I would get growing pains so badly that I would just lay there and cry. Warm bathes once in a while would take the edge off the pain but it still hurt bad. I've actually been getting the same sort of pain the last few days but not to the point of crying, just painful... though i'm sure i'm not growing anymore.
Stacy's suggestion about the banana and OJ have a lot of validity and that would be what I'd suggest. It may not be growing pains. It may be a cramp or what we call a charlie horse. It's hard for a 4 yo to describe adequately what, where and how something really hurts. If you can get him to eat a banana or OJ, try it for a week and see if it helps.
Thanks guys!! He does love bananas, so I will give that a try. We are going back to the doctor on Tuesday for some blood work just to ease my mind. Listening to all of ya'll, I feel better because it does sound like it could be just growing pains. I will let ya'll know.
Personally, I don't believe in "growing pains". If it were me, I'd always have it checked out - blood work and maybe an orthopedic doctor, just to be sure. My oldest had "growing pains" that turned out to be a condition of a temporary softness of the hip socket so the top of the thigh bone was slipping out - and the only treatment was three months of no weight bearing for either leg (what fun - not!). Had it not been diagnosed he could have had permanent damage.
Ditto Ginny for the most part. I do believe that "growing pains" exist, but they are a more vague, nagging pain and should NOT bring a child to tears. The toe walking is a definite concern!!! I work in a pediatric therapy clinic and the physical therapists see lots of kids for toe-walking. It can be caused by numerous things from short tendons to sensory issues, but it definitely needs to be treated. Often it doesn't require therapy...just special shoe inserts that don't allow him to walk on his toes. Definitely get a second opinion, preferable to a PEDIATRIC orthopedic specialist. Keep harassing doctors if you need to and listen to that mommy gut.
What is rheumatic fever? Is this something that he could have had in the past that is causing the problems now? The reason I ask is because he was very sick for about 4 months when he turned 2 that we almost lost him. (His ped. at the time never found anything wrong, didn't really look, but thats a whole other post!!) He ended up in a children's hospital for about a week. He was so very sick, it breaks my heart to think about it now, but my Mom had said at that time that she hoped he didn't have any long term damage from whatever was wrong with him, and that sticks out in my mind. No one could ever really tell me what was wrong (no name for it) but he was tested for all kinds of ugly stuff.
Please take him to a specialist and find out if there is anything wrong. This is in no way the same magnitude as what you are going through, but the principal is the same. My son would not sleep. He cried for hours. I told the doctor that this was not like him. There was something wrong. The last time this happened, the other doc in the practice did a cbc and found a highly elevated white count. Within two days of being on antibiotic, he was his old self. The doc finally listened to me and did a cbc. Not surprisingly, his white count was high. Once again, two days of antibiotic and he was his old self.
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