Questions
What is the patient’s gender and age? What are the main symptoms? Does growing pain indicate an upcoming growth spurt? What causes growing pains? Do they occur during a specific time period or only at certain times? When did the pain start? What were the results of the laboratory tests?
Answers
Growing pains are typically experienced by children aged 4 to 12 and are characterized by intermittent lower limb pain. The pain often occurs in the knee, thigh, calf, and inguinal area, with each episode lasting from 10 minutes to 1 hour and resolving on its own without accompanying symptoms. The pain usually appears in the afternoon or evening, especially after a child has been active throughout the day. Generally, rest helps alleviate the pain. Currently, the exact cause of growing pains is not clear, but it is widely believed to be related to two factors: first, children are in a period of rapid growth, where the rapid growth of the lower limb bones outpaces the growth of surrounding tissues such as nerves, muscles, tendons, and joint capsules, causing traction pain; second, due to their lively and active nature, children engage in high levels of physical activity and can be tireless. The accumulation of acidic metabolic products (acids) produced by exercise may also cause muscle soreness. For children experiencing growing pains, it is most important to ensure they receive adequate and timely rest. Each evening before bedtime, you can use warm water to soak your child’s feet and perform appropriate regional massage on the lower limb joints and muscles. You can also administer a moderate amount of vitamin C. In daily life, remind your child not to overexert themselves and to pay attention to proper rest; exercise should be progressive. During periods of growth and development, children have high nutritional needs. In daily meals, it is important to enhance nutrition and balance the diet with a combination of meats and vegetables. Particularly, encourage your child to consume a certain amount of dairy products each day. Milk provides high-quality protein and rich calcium.