Leg Pain In Children

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

My child's legs hurt, what should I do?

Various diseases can cause pain in the legs in children. Parents need to pay due attention to children's complaints of pain in the lower extremities, ask the baby exactly where and how the leg hurts, and track changes in the child's gait. This will help prevent the disease or detect it at an early stage. Most complaints of leg pain are due to bruises and sprains during active games. Severe pain and swelling requires medical attention. 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 serious examination. All kinds of orthopedic problems associated with abnormalities in the spine, pelvis and feet, as well as heart pathology, which can respond with pain in the legs of children. Contact a specialist immediately if there is a suspicion of a fracture or serious injury, if your baby is limping for several days without any reason, if there is inflammation and redness of the joints of the foot, lower leg, knee or hip.

Why do the legs hurt in children

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 up intensively 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 flow of blood 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 their movement helps the bones to grow. At night, blood flow decreases and pain occurs. In this case, it is enough to massage the baby's legs to make the pain go away.

Legs can hurt 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 put on some part of the leg and results in 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. This is why getting a timely physical will prevent the problem.

Acute pain in the front of the knee (the joint between the tendon of the patella and the tibia) is characteristic of Schlatter's disease. It is observed in adolescents who regularly play sports. The exact cause of the disease has not been established. Babies after three years of age may have severe 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 a leg joint is an indicator of injury and a reason for a medical consultation.

Pain in the lower extremities in children can be a concomitant factor in disorders in 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 stumbling and falling of the child while walking and pain in the legs. This is due to decreased blood flow in the legs.

The source of pain in the lower extremities in a child may be congenital underdevelopment of 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 is possible. Joint pains that occur against the background of lumbago or general poor health, mainly in the morning, require close attention. These can be the harbingers of leukemia. Joint pain throughout the body is common with influenza.

Lameness in a child can be caused by stress or too violent emotions. Observe his mood, if after a night's rest the limping has not passed, show him 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 at the early stages of disease development.

What to do if a 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 him. Pay attention not only to the legs, but also to the general state of health, his appetite, measure the temperature, determine when exactly the pain appeared, how it manifests itself. Tell the doctor about your observations in detail, who will diagnose, prescribe the necessary examinations 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 eventually disappears by itself. 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, orthopedic diseases, which, if neglected, lead the child to disability. There are many reasons for pain in the legs. It is difficult to understand them on your own. This is why it is so important to take reasonable measures in time.

The author of the article: Sokolova Praskovya Fedorovna | Pediatrician

Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Volgograd State Medical University. A specialist certificate was immediately received in 2014.