The child's complaints of pain in the legs should not be ignored. After all, when young children have pain in their legs, it seems to them that the entire body hurts. In this case, be sure to find out from the child where it hurts. Painful sensations in the legs occur in children for various reasons and largely depend on localization. Therefore, the important point is to find out the place of pain.
The most common cause of pain in the legs in a child is in itself a child's age. This age period is accompanied by a number of features in the structure of the bone, the vessels of bone tissue, the musculoskeletal apparatus. In addition, the children's body has a high rate of growth and metabolism. Before puberty a person grows just by increasing the length of the legs, with the most intensive growth observed in the lower leg and feet. In these places, there is rapid growth and abundant blood flow, tissue differentiation. Blood vessels, which feed the muscle and bone are sufficiently wide, are intended for intensive feeding of the blood of growing tissues. However, they contain some elastic fibers. The number of such fibers increases significantly by 7-10 years. Therefore, the circulation of blood in the vessels of the bone and muscles improves with the motor activity of the baby. At this point, the muscles are working, the bone grows and develops. In the night rest period, the tone of the venous and arterial vessels decreases, the intensity of the blood flow decreases, which causes the pain syndrome in the legs. In case of painful sensations, it is recommended to stroke the lower leg of the baby, massage it so that the pain recedes and the child falls asleep. At this point, there is a small flow of blood to the muscles of the feet and legs.
Some children become restless at night, crying, as the legs hurt from the evening and do not allow to fall asleep. In such situations everything is clear: the baby grows, its legs grow faster, which causes pain.
During the day, the child does not feel such symptoms, because the blood circulates quite intensely, metabolic processes are active. At night, the tone of blood vessels that supply blood to bone and muscle tissue decreases, the blood flow decreases, limbs begin to ache.
Many children know the twisting pain. However, it can continue until adolescence, and in some cases until the end of high school.
How to help the child in case of pain in the legs? You can stroke and lightly massage your legs, then the pain will begin to gradually recede, and the child will be able to go to sleep. This is due to the fact that the mass of blood flow to the muscles increases.
Other causes of pain in the legs in children may be flat feet, scoliosis, back problems, which are accompanied by an incorrect distribution of the load along the body. The main load is the knees and shins.
In such cases, you should consult a surgeon and be treated for a disease that causes a redistribution of the load. Parents need to inspect the child, and not only the legs of the child, but also his general condition of the body: appetite, temperature, tone.
Try to remember when exactly the pain in the legs appeared, for what reason it could happen, for example, because of a cold, sore throat, trauma or because of a stool.
To make the right diagnosis, the doctor will need all the information you can give him.
Other causes of pain in the legs in children may be tonsillitis, adenoid disease and even caries. In such cases, you should contact a lor or dentist.
Pain syndrome in the legs may appear as a result of diabetes, thyroid diseases, adrenal and kidney diseases, as well as in violation of mineralization and salt metabolism of bones. Some diseases of the blood, tuberculosis, arthritis, rheumatism, heart pathology, too, can cause pain in the legs.
Remember that the feet of children are a kind of indicator of their health. However, the most common cause of pain in them is simply their growth.
It is recommended that you follow the shoes that the child wears. It should match the size of the baby's foot and have a firm sole. Do not always wear sneakers.
Adhere to the rules of healthy eating, and your children's legs will be healthy.