So, what are growing pains? Growing pains can be described as a dull pain or ache that comes and goes. It is often localized in the muscles of the legs and thighs of children. Growing pains may begin in infancy with the greatest discomfort between the ages of 3-5 years and generally thought to diminish as the individual matures. What causes growing pains? It is thought to include rapid growth, overexertion, infection, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, orthopedic defect, ill health, etc.

In many cases, we find children have sacroiliac joint dysfunction as a result from slips, falls, learning to walk, jumping on a trampoline, playing sports, etc. Sacroiliac joint dysfunction is best described as decreased motion or movement in SI joints. These joints connect the sacrum to the left and right iliac spine. The sacrum is a triangular shaped bone at the base of the spine. When a child has limited motion in these joints, this creates more stress on the joints, muscles, ligaments and the nerves that can refer pain, causing weakness in the legs and feet. Growing pains occur in approximately 20 percent of children and may be as high as 37 percent with a slight preference in females compared to males.

In our office, the care of the pediatric patient with growing pains is not uncommon and our goal is to address this problem by evaluating the spine and nervous system. One example is a 5-year-old girl who had complaints of leg pain and recent bed-wetting. No prior treatment had been rendered except for her parents massaging her legs. Specific, low force adjustments were applied to sites of misalignment in the spine and initial chiropractic care consisted of 15 visits over a 13-week period. After one adjustment, the patient did not complain of leg pain for three days. After seven visits, the mother reported that her daughter was sleeping through the night without leg pains. By the 15th visit, the child continued to improve and was free of leg pain and bed-wetting for almost three weeks.

This example provides supporting evidence of the effectiveness of chiropractic care in children with growing pains and encourages further research into the care of this common malady in children. Have your child evaluated today - give us a call at (208) 667-7434 or visit our website at www.cdahealth.com.