Growing pains are a rite of passage for children that wake up crying in the middle of the night with leg pains. Doctors estimate that 20 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 12 experience growing pains, according to a webpage on the Penn State website. Consult your child's doctor if you're unsure about your child's leg pains.
Identification
Growing pains range from mild to severe discomfort and is an ache that can result in throbbing of the leg muscles. The severity of the pain varies from child to child. Both legs are usually affected by growing pains. These pains generally are present in the late afternoon and early evening, but disappear in the morning. Growing pains do not cause tenderness, inflammation or redness.
Cause
Growing pains have nothing to do with your child's growth. As your child's activity level increases with running, jumping, climbing and tumbling, so does the frequency of growing pains. If growing caused pain, the discomfort would be felt in the joints, but growing pains target the muscles. Delayed onset muscle soreness occurs after intense physical activity that results in microscopic tears in the connective tissue of the muscles. Delayed onset muscle soreness causes the legs to feel tight and sore after physical activity, which is the likely culprit of growing pains.
Treatment
Most children experience relief from growing pains by being cuddled by a loved one. If the pain is severe, massaging the sore muscles provides some relief. Assist your child with stretching the leg muscles while massaging the affected muscle. A heating pad or warm bath before bedtime can also ease pain from growing pains. Acetaminophen or ibuprofen at bedtime eases muscle pain and can help your child sleep through the night without being interrupted by leg pains.
Prevention
If you know ahead of time that your child is participating in high intensity activities, such as hiking or soccer, have your child warm up for 15 minutes prior to the activity. Stretch the leg muscles before and after the vigorous activity. Encourage your child to gradually increase the amount of physical activity they participate in instead of doing everything all at once. If delayed onset muscle soreness is causing your child's leg pains, he is unlikely to experience pains again until the intensity of his activities increases again.
