Growing Pains in Young Children
Also known as or related to: leg pains, night cramps, night pains, sore legs, tired legs, children's leg pains
"Growing Pains" Is Not a Real Diagnosis
"Growing pains" is one of the most commonly used — and most misleading — terms in children's health. There is no known pain that children are meant to experience simply as a result of growing. When a child is told they have "growing pains," they have not received a diagnosis. They have received a label that explains nothing, treats nothing, and leaves no targeted treatment plan in place.
The pains children experience during growth are real — but they are genuine, diagnosable conditions that occur because of the physical demands that activity and growth place on developing bodies. Identifying exactly what is causing the pain is the critical first step to treating it effectively.
What Is Actually Happening
The most common presentation we see is in children aged 4 to 10 years old who wake at night in pain. Parents often discover through trial and error that massaging their child's lower legs, or applying a heat pack, helps relieve the pain enough for their child to go back to sleep. This pattern is a strong clinical clue.
What is actually happening is that the lower leg muscles are cramping and becoming painful — and because children this age are deeply active during the day, the pain presents at night when the muscles are recovering. These lower leg muscles control foot function, and if a child has inefficient foot mechanics, the high activity levels of the day cause these muscles to overwork significantly.
In older children and adults, this same pattern presents as shin splints. In younger children aged 4 to 10, it presents as night pain. Same underlying cause — different age, different presentation.
Symptoms
Children commonly complain of shin pain, especially along either side of the shin bones during or after activity. Children aged from 4 to 7 years of age will sometimes wake in pain and may want their lower legs rubbed. Some children may simply complain of tired or sore legs with prolonged activity and want to be picked up more than other children their age.
Causes
The pain results from the lower limb muscles working too hard, cramping, and resulting in delayed onset muscle soreness. Poor foot function is a common cause of these muscles being overworked. When the foot mechanics are inefficient, the muscles of the lower leg compensate — and in young, highly active children, this compensation accumulates rapidly throughout the day.
Treatments
Once an accurate diagnosis is made, treatments can be implemented to improve foot function and stop these lower leg muscles being overworked. The good news is that with the right intervention, results are often rapid — parents are frequently delighted to have their children sleeping through the night again within days of starting treatment.
Treatments may include supportive footwear matched to your child's foot mechanics, prescription orthotic inserts worn during high-load periods of the day, strapping tape, stretching and targeted strengthening exercises.
"A careful history and clinical examination can diagnose this condition accurately. Specific footwear and orthotics for high-load periods of the day give almost immediate and long-term relief. Parents are extremely happy to have their kids back to sleeping through the night."
— Peter Charles, Sports Podiatrist & Owner, Shoes Feet Gear Bardon
Our Bardon clinic serves families from Paddington, Ashgrove, Toowong, Red Hill and across Brisbane's inner west. Book online or call today — and let's get your child sleeping through the night again.