My child has leg pain, what should I do?

A variety of diseases can cause leg pain in children. Parents need to pay due attention to children’s complaints of pain in the lower extremities, ask the baby where exactly and how the leg hurts, monitor changes in the child’s gait. This will help prevent the disease or detect it at an early stage. Most of the complaints of pain in the legs are due to bruises and sprains during active games. Severe pain and swelling requires medical intervention. One fifth of children experience leg pain in the evening. This is a consequence of the growth of bone and muscle tissue.

Swollen and painful joints require a serious examination. All kinds of orthopedic problems associated with deviations in the spine, pelvis and feet, as well as pathology of the heart, which can respond to pain in the legs of children. Contact a specialist immediately if there is a suspicion of a fracture or serious injury, if your baby limps for several days without any reason, if there is inflammation and redness of the joints of the foot, lower leg, knee or thigh.

Why do children’s feet hurt?

The child’s body during the growth period has its own characteristics in the structure of the vascular system, which is responsible for the nutrition of bones and muscles. Children grow rapidly and have an increased metabolism. The growth of the feet and legs is the fastest. It is in places of intensive growth that an abundant blood flow through the vessels is necessary, but up to 7 years in the vessels there is a reduced content of elastic fibers.

The blood circulates well during the daytime (the period of activity of the child), when the muscles work and help the bones grow with their movement. At night, blood flow decreases and pain occurs. In this case, it is enough to massage the baby’s legs so that the pain goes away.

Leg pain can be due to congenital or acquired pathology. Scoliosis, flat feet, poor posture lead to a change in the center of gravity of the body. More pressure is placed on some part of the leg and leads to pain. The presence of a chronic infection in the nasopharynx, manifested in the form of tonsillitis, inflammation of the adenoids, multiple caries can cause leg pain. That is why conducting a timely physical examination will prevent the problem.

Acute pain in the anterior part of the knee (the junction of the tendon of the patella and the tibia) is characteristic of Schlatter’s disease. It is observed in adolescents who regularly go in for sports. The exact cause of the disease has not been established. In babies after three years, there may be serious pain in the calf muscles. This is an indicator of a lack of calcium and phosphorus in the bones or poor absorption of these substances. Sudden pain in the leg joint is an indicator of injury and a reason for medical consultation.

Pain in the lower extremities in children may be a concomitant factor in disorders of the endocrine system (diabetes mellitus, adrenal pathology, thyroid disease). Some blood disorders also begin with pain in the legs. Congenital cardiac and vascular pathologies are the cause of frequent trips and falls of the child while walking and pain in the legs. This is due to reduced blood flow in the legs.

The source of pain in the lower extremities in a child can be congenital underdevelopment of the connective tissue. It is part of the heart, ligaments, blood vessels. With such a pathology, the development of flat feet, high joint mobility, varicose veins, scoliosis, and prolapse of the kidneys are possible. Joint pains that occur against the background of backache or general poor health, mainly in the morning, require close attention. These could be signs of leukemia. Pain in the joints of the whole body is characteristic of the flu.

Lameness in a child can be caused by stress or too violent emotions. Watch his mood, if after a night’s rest the limping has not gone away, show it to the doctor. Perhaps the cause of lameness is a bruise, uncomfortable shoes, inflammation on the fingers, redness on the joints. Visual observation of the behavior of children, examination, questioning of their child will help parents to prevent diseases in a timely manner and contact specialists in the early stages of the development of diseases.

What to do if your child has leg pain

As soon as the child reported pain in the legs or you yourself noticed that the cause of the baby’s anxiety lies in the legs, you need to examine it. Pay attention not only to the legs, but also to the general state of health, his appetite, measure the temperature, determine exactly when the pain appeared, how it manifests itself. Tell your doctor in detail about your observations, who will diagnose, prescribe the necessary studies and establish the cause of the pain.

In most cases, leg pain in children is a consequence of the intensive growth of the child or the result of a minor injury, does not pose a threat to health and disappears over time. However, not all cases are so harmless. Legs can hurt in children of any age, starting from birth.

Pain in the legs can be a sign of a serious pathology, an orthopedic disease, which, when neglected, leads the child to disability. There are many reasons for pain in the legs. It’s hard to figure them out on your own. That is why it is so important to take reasonable measures in time.