Growing Pains

[Jeanette]

HiChris.
Welcome to Essex Mums.
My two are both grown up now but something I always wondered about, Is there such a thing as growing pains or is it a diagnosis the doctors used when they didn't really know what was up?

[Kidsphysio2u]

Hi Jeanette,
Congratulations for the first question. The answer is yes they do exist, Although a number of cause exist growing pains can normally be explained with a Growth spurt. As the bones grow quicker than the muscles, this can pull the muscle attachments to the bone and cause localised swelling. It is this swelling that is often cause of the pain symptom. Children with extra bendy joints (hypermobility) tend to suffer worse with this in my experience. It also tends to run in families. Hope this helps.

[Jeanette]

Thanks for that Chris. That makes sense. My daughter used to suffer from it sometimes and I often wondered if the doctors were just lost for a proper diagnosis. You learn something every day.