Guide on Growing Pains in Children: Causes, Symptoms, and Remedies
When kids go through pains, it can also be challenging for the parents. Most of the time, these pains show up in the legs and happen at night, which keeps parents up and worries. To help kids get through growing pains and stay healthy, it is essential to understand how they work.
This guide discusses growing pains in children, such as what causes them, how to treat them, and the signs. It helps parents deal with this common problem in kids by giving them helpful information and tips.
This blog post is for health awareness by the brand "R for Rabbit," which significantly cares about kids' health. It explains how important it is to help kids who have leg pain. "R for Rabbit" wants to help parents keep their kids healthy and happy by giving them good tips and products made for kids' needs in mind.
Understanding Growing Pains
1. What are Growing Pains?
Kids repeatedly experience joint pain, mostly in their legs. Known with the name "growing pains" is a bad one. Even though the name sounds like it, these pains are not caused by growth spurts. Instead, they are caused by the stress and strain muscles feel when used.
2. Common Age Groups Affected
Kids usually experience growing pains between the ages of 3 and 12. The most common times are when they are in creche or early school. The exact reason for growing pains is unknown, but most kids experience them as a regular part of growing up.
3. Symptoms and Typical Patterns
If your kids’ legs hurt, burn, or cramp, you may be experiencing growing pains. These feelings usually happen on both sides of the thighs, legs, or shins and typically start in the late afternoon or evening.
At night, they keep you up and make you feel horrible. The discomfort can be severe, but it usually subsides by morning.
Causes of Growing Pains
1. Tiredness of Muscles
Kids play and exercise for hours due to their vitality. Running, jumping, climbing, and other physically demanding sports can tire young muscles. Pain is worse in the legs. These weary muscles may hurt throughout the day, indicating growing pains.
2. Dehydration
Everyone benefits from drinking enough water. Due to their hectic schedules and little water storage, youngsters are more likely to become dehydrated than adults. Water deficiency can cause electrolyte imbalances and muscle cramping. This can worsen developing discomfort.
3. Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D, also known by the name "sunshine vitamin," helps in strengthening your bones and body muscles. Vitamin D deficiency can make calcium absorption difficult, weakening bones and muscles. Getting enough vitamin D from the sun and food is vital since youngsters who do not may have greater growing pains.
Identifying the Symptoms
1. How to Recognise Growing Pains in Your Child
Pain can be difficult to distinguish from increasing pain. However, parents can help their kids figure it out by looking for sure signs. In the evenings or at night, people going through growing pains often have short sessions of leg pain in kids.
Growing pains do not make your baby skin red, swell, or feel warm like cuts or other inflammatory conditions; they usually go away independently without help.
2. Differentiating Growing Pains from Other Types of Pain
Like muscle pulls and inflammatory illnesses, developing pains impact muscles and bones. However, they differ in meaningful ways that can distinguish them. Stress and overwork cause injuries, but growing pains are unrelated. Also, growth pains afflict both legs and do not modify their appearance.
3. When to Consult a doctor
Most developing pains are harmless and go away independently, but you should consult a doctor sometimes. Parents should take their children to the doctor if they are in severe discomfort that lasts long or have a fever, oedema, or limping. These symptoms may direct a more severe health problem that requires further investigation.
Common Causes of Growing Pains
Here, we will discuss about the causes of leg pain in children:
1. Muscle Tiredness
Kids move normally and do diverse things. Kids always stay energised when playing tag in the yard, biking with pals, or attending a sporting event. However, frequent exercise can tyre young muscles, especially at night.
After a long day, tired legs can hurt, throb, or stiffen. Working out usually causes mild muscle fatigue. Straining your baby muscles too much or too long might worsen the symptoms and cause developing pains.
2. Dehydration Problems
Water is dubbed the "elixir of life" since practically every physiological system needs it. Due to their fast metabolisms and growth, kids need to consume lots of water. Despite its importance, many kids need to drink more water daily, which could lead to dehydration and its complications.
Thirst, dry mouth, dark urine, fatigue, and anger are frequent symptoms of dehydration. Not drinking enough water might cause muscle cramping, dizziness, or fainting in extreme circumstances.
3. Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D strengthens bones, muscles, and joints and impacts calcium absorption and usage, so getting enough is important for bones and muscles. Vitamin D is essential, but many kids need help to acquire enough, especially those in poor climates or with strict diets.
Vitamin D deficiency can cause fatigue, illness, weak muscles, and bone damage. Vitamin D deficiency slows growth and development, increasing growing pains. Vitamin D from food, supplements, and safe sunshine is essential for bone and muscle function.
Effective Remedies for Growing Pains
Growing pains are hard for kids and adults. Luckily, numerous effective medications can relieve pain and help individuals sleep. This section discusses remedies for growing pains in kids and leg pain management for kids to make them feel better.
1. Compress Hot Air
A heated compress can relieve muscular and growing pain immediately. Heat relieves pain, relaxes muscles, and increases blood flow. An electric pad or warm towel can make a hot compress.
Avoid overheating the compress to avoid injury - ten to fifteen minutes with the bandage on the wound. Repeat this childhood leg aches treatment as needed until your baby feels better.
2. Massage with Oil
Massage can be beneficial for kids who are going through growing pains. Massaging your child's legs gently with oil can help calm them down, rest their muscles, and ease their pain. Oils like coconut, olive, and lavender are great because they calm you down.
Also Read: Benefits And Myths About Baby Massage
Use your fingers to warm up a small amount of oil you put on your hands. Then, use light, circular motions to rub the oil into your child's legs, focusing on areas that hurt or feel stiff. This can help your child calm down and sleep better before bed.
3. More Water intake
Staying hydrated and managing developing pains is healthy. Boost your youngster to drink lots of water daily to maintain muscle strength. Put water in bright bottles or add fruit to make it enjoyable.
High-water fruits like oranges, tomatoes, and cucumbers can help your child stay hydrated. Ensure your youngster consumes enough water to prevent muscular cramps and ease the development of aches.
4. Stretching and Spreading Out
Stretching often keeps muscles supple and reduces increasing pain. Toe touches, calf stretches, and hamstring stretches are simple leg stretches to teach kids.
Your youngster should do these stretches daily for 15 to 30 seconds multiple times. Stretching increases flexibility, blood flow, and muscle stress relief, preventing growing pains.
5. Taking Extra Vitamin D
Kids require vitamin D to maintain strong bones and muscles. Your child may need vitamin D supplements to normalise their levels and make growing up easier. To determine what and how much to give your child, talk to a doctor about their age, weight, and needs.
Also Read: Right Nutrition for Growth in First 2 Years
It is essential to choose a good vitamin and take the right amount to ensure it works and is safe. If you check your vitamin D readings often, you can see how things are going and change your supplementation as needed.
Measures to Stop Problems and Challenges
1. Getting People to do Regular Physical Activity
Kids should do a lot of physical activity every day. It is good for their health and generally makes them happier and healthier. Your child's heart health will improve when you do various workouts with them.
They will also get stronger bones and muscles, improve their coordination, and feel better overall. When you make exercise fun, people are more likely to keep up good habits for life.
2. Balance Work and Play
While exercise is good, you should also ensure your child has enough time to rest and heal. Should you do too much or not enough, your muscles will get tired, and you may get growth pains. You are planning your day to have enough time to work out, and rest will help you avoid overuse injuries and help your muscles heal faster.
Kids must listen to their bodies and take breaks, when necessary, especially after several hours of hard work. When your baby rests enough, their muscles can heal and grow back. This makes both them and you less likely to be in pain or feel tiredness.
3. Food Suggestions for Kids who are Growing and Maturing
Variety diets help kids build bones and muscles. Help your child get vitamins and minerals for healthy bones, muscles, and teeth by eating well. Include nutrient-dense foods from all diets in your meal plan. Include fruits, vegetables, nutritious grains, lean proteins, and dairy or dairy alternatives.
Many Vitamin D-rich foods are bone-healthy. They can prevent vitamin D deficiency-related developing discomfort. Fortified milk, cheese, eggs, fatty fish like salmon and tuna, cereals, and orange juice are vitamin D-rich foods for kids. Sunlight helps your baby body generate vitamin D, so play outside and use sunscreen.
Also Read: Gripe Water for Babies - Safety Concerns Every Parent Should Know
Key Takeaways
Growing pains are harmless but might make a youngster uncomfortable. Comprehending the root causes, diverse symptoms, and enabling treatments can help parents lessen their child's pain and improve their health.
Proactively encouraging activity, proper food, and hydration can prevent growing pains. Parents can assist their children grow through these short-term discomforts by being vigilant and kind.