What is the difference between growing pains and pathological pain in children?

"Growth pain", also known as "growth pain in young children", is medically called non-specific limb pain, which is related to the growth and development of young children.

After the child is 3 years old, the growth rate of height will be accelerated, because the growth rate of the child's bones during this period is extremely fast, far exceeding the growth rate of the peripheral nerves and muscles of the bones, the result will be uncoordinated pain in the muscles and nerves, the pain is generally in the knees and nearby muscles, occasionally located in the thighs or ankles, and some may also have pain in the upper limbs.

It is important to distinguish between growing pain and pathological pain

Features of growing pain:

1. The pain site is relatively fixed;

2. It mostly occurs at night or after the child falls asleep;

3. The degree of pain varies greatly, the child may wake up suddenly because of the pain, which lasts for a few minutes or even hours, and the pain symptoms can be reduced after massage;

4. Generally, there is no redness, swelling and fever in the local area, and the pain can be relieved by itself;

5. After the child returns to normal, he no longer feels pain, and can run and jump at the same time, and is as lively as ever.

Features of pathological pain:

1. The pain is aggravated during activity and relieved at rest;

2. The lesion of the leg has abnormal changes such as redness, swelling, heat, pain, etc.;

3. Leg movement is restricted.

If the child's pain is frequent and severe, the child should be taken to the hospital for laboratory tests and x-rays to rule out rheumatoid arthritis and septic arthritis, which should be prompted.

Here are a few tips to relieve your baby's growing pains.

1.Take a hot bath before bedtime. Giving your baby a comfortable warm bath before going to bed can be very effective in helping to relieve your baby's muscles, which is very helpful in reducing pain.

2.Apply a warm compress to the sore area. When the baby is in pain, parents can use a hot towel to put the baby in the painful area, and then gently massage the pain, which also helps to reduce the pain.

3.Don't overdo it. When the baby is over-exercising, it may lead to excessive muscle exercise and pain, so when the baby is exercising, also pay attention to rest, and the combination of work and rest is the best.

4. Guide children to play with toys and games to divert attention.

5. Explain the reason to the child, so that the child knows that this pain is a normal phenomenon in the process of growth and development, and there is no need to be afraid.

Growth pain is related to growth and development, is a temporary physiological phenomenon, generally does not need **, parents should not give painkillers. There are also many parents who think that the baby's growth pain is caused by calcium deficiency, but in fact, calcium supplementation will not relieve the baby's growth pain.

Growing pains, which mostly occur in children aged 5 to 7 years, are generally not painful during activity or play, and painful at rest or sleeping. Pathological pain is pain that hurts both at rest and at play.

There is a big difference between growing pains and no impact on the child's body in the first place, and this is also a normal physiological reaction, but the pathological system will affect the child's health, so it needs to be paid attention to.

Growth pain is a unique physiological phenomenon in children's growth and development, which is more common in children with normal growth and development at the age of 3 to 12, especially at the age of 3 and 6. It usually presents with pain around the knee or in the front of the calf, typically bilaterally but also on one side. There is no history of trauma to these sites, movement is normal, and local tissues are not red, swollen, or tender.

After a doctor's examination, after ruling out the possibility of other diseases that can cause similar symptoms, it can be judged as growing pains, that is, the diagnosis of growing pains is excluded.

The biggest feature of growing pains is that they almost always occur at night, or the pain is worse at night. This is due to the fact that during the day, children are more active, and even if they feel uncomfortable, they may not be noticeable because they are focused on other things. At night, when the body and mind are relaxed, the symptoms of pain can make the child feel uncomfortable and even unbearable.

Since there are no pathological factors, why do growing pains occur?

The main reason is that children in the growth and development period have rapid bone growth, but the growth of nerves, tendons, and muscles around the long bones of the limbs is relatively slow, and this uncoordinated growth and development leads to traction pain. In addition, children's activity is usually relatively large, or there are too many tissue metabolites during development, which cannot be excreted and eliminated quickly, which will cause the accumulation of acidic metabolites, resulting in muscle soreness.

In addition, there is also a condition of internal curvature of the tibia. In order to adapt to the phenomenon of the tibia of the lower leg during the toddler period, the human body will compensate for a certain degree of knee valgus. With the progress of growth and development, most children rely on the strength of the leg muscles, which will gradually correct the two temporary deformities of tibial inward curvature and knee valgus, while a small number of children are not corrected in time, in order to maintain the stability of the joint, the leg muscles must often remain tense, and pain may also occur.

Growing pains are muscular pains, and they generally do not require special **. The most effective way to deal with pain attacks is to give children a local massage and warm compress to help reduce the level of pain and make them feel cared for and safe.

So what are growing pains?

Growth pains usually occur in children between the ages of 3 and 12, when the child is at the peak of growth and development. But unfortunately, there is no unified, scientific answer to the cause of growing pains in the scientific and medical community. However, some scholars speculate that it is because some children have a low tolerance for pain, or that the pain is caused by the child's excessive activity during the day.

But not all leg pain is growing pain. So how can you tell if it's growing pains? Generally, you can see if the child's pain is full of the following points:

1.Irregular seizures.

Some children do not have any causes other than excessive exercise during the day, and if this pain occurs from time to time, it may be growing pains.

2.I didn't move but it started to hurt.

Growing pains generally do not affect the child's activities during the day, and it doesn't matter if the child runs or jumps freely, but it starts to hurt when he rests and does not move at night.

3.It gets better on its own and goes away.

Generally, growing pains are pain at night, and they will improve and disappear on their own in a short period of time, and they will heal without treatment, and they will get better again during the day.

If the child has pain after the trauma, and it may even be red and swollen, it is not a growing pain. Of course, if parents are not sure, they should still take their children to the hospital in time to see an orthopedic doctor.

1 Growing pains are most commonly found in the knees, calves and thighs, occasionally in the groin area, and the pain is generally outside the joints. Pain is typically bilateral, but there is also pain on one side.

2 Growing pains are mainly muscle pain, not joint or bone pain. There will also be no redness, swelling or warmth in the painful area.

3. The biggest feature of growing pains is that they almost always occur at night. During the day, because the child is more active, even if he feels uncomfortable, the child may not be aware of other things because of the special family. At night, when the body and mind are relaxed and ready to rest, the symptoms of "pain" will make the child feel particularly uncomfortable and even unbearable.

The ** and pathogenesis of growing pains are not completely clear at present, but exist in the form of theories, and the following are several theories that are more widely used.

4 Studies have reported that the occurrence of growing pains is related to calcium deficiency, although this theory has not been widely recognized, but children are at the peak of growth and development, and have a large demand for various macro elements and trace elements, and the lack of calcium and other elements can lead to increased neuromuscular excitability, which in turn leads to muscle pain or spasms.

5. Children's bone growth is faster at night, due to the rapid growth of bones, the peripheral nerves and muscles are stretched and cause pain, so the baby has more growing pains at night, and the degree is more intense. Bone growth is slower during the day, so the onset of dust pain is few and weak. In addition, infants and toddlers are more distracted during the day, and pain can be diverted as a result.

At night, when the infant and toddler's body is relaxed, the discomfort caused by pain is more prominent.

6 Some studies have shown that the pain threshold of children with the same pressure is lower in children who often have growing pains than those who do not or have less growth pains, so it suggests that the occurrence of growth pains in children may be related to the high and low pain threshold.

71. Hip synovitis.

Children with hip synovitis are more common in boys. The exact cause of the disease is not well understood, and most children have a sudden onset. The peak incidence is 3-6 years old.

Children often have a history of upper respiratory tract infection in the early stage of the disease, and Bao Da Kuanbao will be reluctant to stand or walk because of pain, but usually no fever or mild increase in body temperature, high fever is very rare.

2. Rheumatic fever.

Pediatric rheumatic fever is mostly caused by streptococcal infection, which is easy to cause pain in large joints such as ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbows, and shoulders, that is, rheumatoid arthritis, which can be accompanied by different degrees of joint swelling and tenderness. There may be a history of short-term fever or scarlet fever such as pharyngitis, tonsillitis, and cold 1 to 3 weeks before the onset of the disease.