Recurrent limb pain in children– common, but not serious
Zawad, a four year old lovely boy recently started schooling. His mother consulted me recently with problem of recurrent limb pain in the evening for which he often asks for massage of the affected limbs. The night before consultation, Zawad woke up from sleep because of the same pain. His mother became a bit anxious and concerned. So she came to me with the boy. Form the physical examination and history, I found the boy has no other associated conditions like fever, any history of trauma, bleeding disorder, any enlarged lymph node, limping or any other related problems. His mother stated that Zawad becomes totally fit in the morning and attends school regularly. The pain only starts at evening/night and subsides by massage, application of warmth or by taking paracetamol. I assured the mother and diagnosed the condition as recurrent limb pain. Sometimes, we designate the condition as growing pain though it does not have any relationship with physical growth. Recurrent limb pain or growing pain is relatively a common childhood problem. It is not a serious problem. Typically, they are located in the muscles, rather than the joints and commonly affect legs than the arms. They are usually felt on both sides and appear late in the day or at night and severity varies from mild to very severe. Pain is absent by the morning and there are no objective clinical signs of inflammation. Pain can recur nightly or be absent for days to months. Growing pain is not associated with other serious disease and usually resolves by late childhood, but frequent episodes are capable of having a substantial effect on the life of the child. Around 10-30 percent of children may complain this kind of limb pain between the age of 3- 7 years. Practically, it will not persist in later childhood. Massage, hot bath and occasional use of paracetamol is enough. But taking colored vegetables, drinking lemon juice and water or oral saline may help a lot. Take care of your sweet child.
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