Can someone please explain this to me? I never experienced it myself. Granted, I was not an active child, and Tova definitely is, and I've heard that can make a difference, but I don't know what to do about this.
It's been over a week, and Tova has been in pain. First her left thigh. Then her right. Then her left again. This morning, it's her left ankle. And it's real; not just crying for attention. She's not a cryer. But last Sunday night, she woke up at 4am screaming because it hurt so much.
We took her to the doctor, and he said no one really knows what causes growing pains. We've put heat on it, and we've given her ibuprofen. That helps a little, though it takes a while. But while we can put a sticky heating pad on her upper leg and she can get around, there's not much we can do with her ankle.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to things we could do? Preventative, palliative, etc.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Lisa:
Yeah, growing pains suck. Our girls haven't experienced them, but the boys have with a vengeance.
One thing that seems to work for us is to keep the child hydrated throughout the day. I'm not sure why it works, but there you go.
Good luck.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
This advice may be worthless, because I don't understand/remember the science behind it. But I had terrible growing pains, and my mother used to dampen cotton balls or a washcloth with alcohol and rub it over the area. I usually felt better within a few minutes. I have no idea why it worked; it could have just been the placebo effect, but I remember alcohol nights like they were yesterday.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
PSI: It might have been a cooling effect, maybe
I used to get leg cramps growing up that hurt terribly (like, tearing my calves off terrible). My mom said it was because of a potassium deficiency, and made me eat bananas (and other potassium-type things). It seemed to help. It doesn't sound the same, though.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Take it for what it's worth, but what I always told my kids when they were going through this was:
As long as we got each other, we got the world spinning right in our hands.
As long as we keep on giving, we can take anything that comes our way.
Baby, rain or shine, all the time...we got each other. Sharing the laughter and love.
Always seemed to work!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by sarcasticmuppet: PSI: It might have been a cooling effect, maybe
Possibly. However, since alcohol can be absorbed through the skin, this one is potentially harmful.
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
Strider, I can just imagine the "Facts of life" talk to you gave your kids... "You take the good, you take the bad, you take it all and there you have the facts of life.... the facts of life."
Now back to our serious conversation.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Rubbing alcohol shouldn't hurt her applied that way, but it should be used sparingly as it dries out the skin.
I was told it was because our bones were growing so fast that our body had to work hard to keep up, but that was by my mom when I was a kid. Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Originally posted by Scott R: One thing that seems to work for us is to keep the child hydrated throughout the day. I'm not sure why it works, but there you go.
Good luck.
Hydrating is a very rational suggestion. Growing pains seem to be muscle related and there are lots of reasons that poor hydration can lead to muscle cramps.
Insufficient calcium, potasium and magnesium are also very likely linked to muscle pains. Low vitamin D can also be an issue. I'd try giving her a mineral supplement and include more bananas and green leafy vegetables in her meals. It certainly not anything that could hurt.
I'm curious. Did this start about the time the weather improved and she started playing outside more? If so, dehydration and electrolyte imbalance may very likely be contributing factors. You might try experiment with sports drinks before and after she plays outside since they are intended to replace both water and electrolytes.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Thanks, everyone. We'll try some of these.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I had pretty bad growing pains when I was growing up. I was extremely active especially when I lived in Malaysia but they had this fantastic drink there that didn't taste very good when you were just alittle thirsty, but it tasted like heaven when you were tired, sweaty, and really thirsty. I think these twodrinks are more or less the exact same formula as 100 plus, and they are generally available in Asian grocery stores. I think they taste better than any flavor sports drink I have had in the US.
I should think light leg massages could be pretty beneficial as well, along with warm baths beforehand to loosen things up.
[ April 23, 2010, 11:38 AM: Message edited by: BlackBlade ]
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
One more think. I mentioned Vitamin D earlier but perhaps not forcefully enough. A lot of research indicates chronic vitamin D deficiency is wide spread in northern latitudes and is associated with lots of problems including muscle pains.
In Chicago (you do live in Chicago don't you), you won't be getting enough UVB to stimulate vitamin D production until late May. I don't know what the dress code is for young Orthodox Jewish girls, but if her arms and legs are always covered when she goes outside, she won't be making enough Vitamin D even in mid summer. Recent studies suggest we'd all be well advised to take more vitamin D supplements or spend long hours outside everyday at lower latitudes, scantily clad, without sunscreen (which has plenty of draw backs on its own). Your doctor should be able to test her for vitamin D deficiency, but probably won't unless you push for it.
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I should think light leg massages could be pretty beneficial as well, along with warm baths beforehand to loosen things up.
I think that's an excellent suggestion, if she can tolerate being massaged. This always worked for my kids when they had aches that I associated with growing pains. They'd come to me with the pain and they'd end up getting a massage.
The only problem with that is that they all still "claim" to have little aches and pains just to get the massage freebie.
Poor lil Tova. Hope she feels better soon!
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka:
quote:Originally posted by sarcasticmuppet: PSI: It might have been a cooling effect, maybe
Possibly. However, since alcohol can be absorbed through the skin, this one is potentially harmful.
Oh, really? How is it harmful? (My son's starting to get his own growing pains.)
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Not a doctor, but it does seem to me that the amount of alcohol one could absorb through the skin from rubbing a few milliliters on the skin would not be noticeable in a blood test, much less damaging. There's such a thing as awareness of harmful dosages, eh? That said, I also don't understand how it's supposed to help; if it's the cooling effect of evaporation, water would work almost as well.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Doing it occasionally is highly unlikely to be harmful. Doing it repeatedly over the same day (because the kids likes it or whatever) might. Particularly if applied in a poorly ventilated room.
quote:It is dangerous to give a child a sponge bath with isopropanol to reduce a fever. Because isopropanol is absorbed through the skin, it can make children very sick.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
I had the impression we were speaking of ethanol; other alcohols are a different matter, of course.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Applied topically?
Anyway, rubbing alcohol was mentioned by name.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
My grandfather used to treat sore gums in infants by the topical application of ethanol, specifically, whiskey. Further, some rubbing alcohols are ethanol, although apparently isopropanol is more common; I didn't know that.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Actually, applying ethanol to baby gums is potentially quite dangerous. Teeny little babies + gum tissue (which absorbs alcohol like a little sponge) = potentially very bad.
My kids' pediatrician recommended applying liberally to the parents' gums and adjacent tissue instead.
AFAIK, in the US as least, all medical-use rubbing alcohol is isopropyl. Different laws regarding not-intended-for-drinking alcohol may mean that is untrue elsewhere.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I had growing pains in my legs back arms and even my hands, it was horrible especially since my teachers thought I was just being bored and disruptive. I spent alot of time in the pool over that all too long period of my youth, it helped to stretch out with no resistance tightening the wrong part.
Posted by String (Member # 6435) on :
Sorry to here about your problem, Lisa. My daughter has terrible pains in her legs, mostly at night. One time she told me that 'she wished her pain would go away forever, but that it always will come back'. Broke my heart. I told her that it will, That I used to have them too, and that it's because she is getting so big, so fast. Usually I just talk to her and distract her, until it passes. Not much else has worked, sorry .
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