It often happens that children, usually in the afternoon or already at night, complain of muscle aches. There are not many parents who go to the emergency room for this reason, but if the pain is intense and the child complains a lot, the doubt appears and ends up consulting the doctor who, in case of not finding a real cause to the pain can diagnose it how "growing pains".
However, Are there really growth pains or are they one of those diagnoses that are used as a tailor's drawer? Next we are going to talk a little about it, because there are several theories about it.
Diagnostics "tailor's drawer"?
Surely after reading this you will be wondering what I mean by that "tailor's drawer" diagnosis. Well, it is those normal events of the development of babies and children that can cause some symptoms. It is not known for sure if they are the direct causes but, since the symptoms are mild and disappear alone, they usually serve to name the child's condition.
Colic or exit of teeth are diagnoses of this type. With them you have probable cause of discomfort, crying or fever until well into two years.
As babies, because they cry and we don't know why (until babies know how to talk we will stay the same, and I don't think this will ever happen), we tend to say that "they will be colic" if no previous cause has been found. That is, hunger, cold or heat and the need to be accompanied, if a baby continues to cry, it is usually said to have colic. As the colic are limited in time, since after 3 months they disappear, and as they are considered something normal, as it is, there is no other than conform and try to help the baby to be at his best during the day to prevent them
When they have a few months, if babies complain, if they have a few tenths of fever, if they put their hands in their mouths with rage, if they cry, then we say that "they will be the teeth." We do not know if it really hurts or if it really causes discomfort (I think so, because it has been mathematical in mine), but again the exit of the teeth is a normal process that leads parents to have to conform now Help the child to be their best.
Do the growing pains exist?
And after the colic (which nobody knows how to explain what they are) and of the teeth (that there are those who say that when they leave they do not hurt), muscular pains may appear, usually in the afternoon or at night, and usually in the legs, which as they come, they leave, which can last a few hours or even days and is usually diagnosed as growing pains.
In this regard I have heard several theories. One of them says no, that growth pains do not exist and that it is simply the name given to a pain in the extremities when it is evidenced that the child has nothing serious. They are pains in certain areas of the legs, usually that do not increase when pressing, which is not specific at one point, but rather affects an area and does not produce lameness. The most logical explanation, which gives this theory, is that they are secondary pains to having done physical activity the day before (jumping, climbing, running, etc.) and that is why growth pains occur more often in children.
However, another of the theories that I have heard says yes, that growth pains exist because they are not always linked to intense physical activity the day before. According to this other theory, the bones do not hurt when they grow, but the tendons that are inserted in them can hurt when, after the bone grows, the tendons remain somewhat more stressed, until muscle growth occurs in a short period of time. And the trouble gives in.
I cannot say which of the two is real, and the truth is that it is a bit indifferent. Growing pains (or whatever) usually happen in children between 3 and 12 years old, they can wake up children but they calm down with a massage and, if necessary, with a pain reliever. The next day the pain is usually gone, and if it is repeated, it goes away with the same ease as the previous night.
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In Babies and more | Growth pains in children
