Children’s Growing Pains Treatment in Winchester and Basingstoke

What are growing pains and how are they linked to the legs and feet?

Growing pains in children are a common complaint we see as podiatrists. The muscles of the calves, thighs and behind the knee tend to be the most frequent sites of complaint. Growing pains can range in severity from a minor cramp or ache to severe spasms that are intense enough to cause night waking. They can occur at any point in the day, however, most reports are that the pains arise when the child settles down for the night and is lying in bed. There can be many causes behind these pains and some of them include biomechanics, which is where our children’s growing pains treatment comes into play.

How might feet be contributing to your child’s growing pains?

The muscles affected by the pain are some of the main muscles in your lower limbs. They play a vital role in day-to-day movement for your child. Walking, running and jumping all require constant activation of the muscle groups. If your child’s lower limbs or feet are out of alignment, these muscles are required to work much harder to just achieve the basic walking or running motion. Growing up in Hampshire, which offers such an excellent outdoor lifestyle, these muscles are often under high load, which further contributes to the tightening of these muscle groups, adding to the discomfort felt. When we commence our children’s growing pains treatment, we investigate the biomechanics of your child’s movement, checking for any concerns and also any other potential contributing factors as per below.

Aside from lower limb biomechanics, other factors that can accentuate growing pain in children are;

• Hypermobility (excessive joint range of motion)
• Ligament laxity – increased elasticity of ligaments supporting joints
• Poor or incorrect footwear for particular activities

If any of these are of concern, we will discuss them with you during our assessment.

While children’s growing pains can have a variety of presenting symptoms, there are some indicators which are as follows.

• Regular complaint of aching legs at rest
• Early fatigue with basic levels of exercise
• Resistance to walking for any real length of time
• Cramps or muscle spasms
• Pain subsides with gentle stretching, pain relief or massage
• Pain is no longer present in the morning