Has this been an issue with your sons? Do they really have growing pains? My 14 y.o. son has been complaining about his legs being tired/sore. Sometimes the inside of his knees also.

I don't think he has really had a spurt yet, steady growing at about 3 inches per year. I haven't noticed any other "changes" either...so i'm not sure what to think. I don't really want to run to the doc if it's just a normal thing.

Almost definately growing pains. My son has chronic lower back pains from pitching- sometimes stabbing pain to where he can't do anything. A few days later and he is back to normal as if nothing happened. Personally I believe his pain is due to tight muscles due to growth and he slightly pulls them. He also gets pain in his plantars (heel on foot) when he plays basketball. It is so bad that after he plays he can barely walk. Some people think we are over-pushing our kid. The doctor said it was just tight muscles due to bone growth and not to worry too much- warm up and stretch good and don't overdue it.

Get a moist electric heat pad.

What happens when kids grow is their muscles, tendons and bones don't always grow at the same rate. Heat and ice at appropriate times help. Also get him out of athletic shoes and in flip flops as soon as he's done playing. If the pain persists take him to a sports ortho specialist. They'll understand from an athletic standpoint. A pediatrician will suggest Tylenol and rest for four weeks. If he has Osgood-Slatter or Severs don't take it lightly.

Yes, growing pain are very really. Son grew 11" in 2 years, his feet went from size 10 1/2 to 13 in 8 months! (age 12) He slowed down to about 1/2-3/4" in high school & finally grew into those feet.
I would have him sit in a warm bath tub (sometimes in the middle of the night), and used a massager, and a warm moist heating pad.
As RPM says, pay attention to Osgood-Slaughters. It can be very painful, especially for basketball players & catchers. Son quit catching because of it.

Also make sure his potassium levels are good. Low potassium can cause cramps that are similar to growing pains. "A banana a day"...

Ginger,
Could be spondylolysis. Has he been checked?

Take him to the doc. Better safe than sorry...

My 12 y/o son (a catcher) was also having some knee pain. Thanks to some other posters on this board we had him checked with a sports doc. He had some muscles that were not developing on the inside of each knee. He was given some knee exercises, and in 3 weeks he was really better. Nearly no pain, was walking better, and actually picked up some speed.

Never hurts to get an opinion from a good physician.

CWM

I do not beleive that such thing exists, some do. Usually when pain occurs at night for no explained reason, we call them growing pains, but if your son's or daughters play sports and they have issues, especially in areas other than the legs, I wouldn't be so sure it's from "growing pains".

Perhaps the pharae, "over doing it" makes more sense.

http://www.distanthealer.co.uk/growingpains.htm#

quote:

Originally posted by CADad:
Ginger,
Could be spondylolysis. Has he been checked?

Never been checked. Had a Chiropractor adjust his back a few times, that is all.

Its kind of a strange thing. Last year the same thing happened near the end of the summer season and by fall it was not an issue at all. This year same thing except this fall he had a game where he threw 2 innings and stopped after that because his back was really bothering him. By the end of the game he could barely walk. Two weeks later he pitched and said it felt just fine. Not sure what it is other than slightly pulled muscles or nerves or something.

I don't know about the effects of spondylolysis it could be I guess. I never have worried about it too much because he seems to recover quickly from it just like his plantars in his feet.

Oh, about like the symptoms you've described. Actually, the symptoms tend to be a bit different for everyone. Some are completely shut down, some can pitch through it and some never feel anything. It is worth getting an x-ray at least. After this long the treatment would only be rest when it flared up most likely.

thanks to everyone who responded.. I think we are going to take him to an ortho doc just to be on the "safe side". It seems to hurt more on the inside of both knees, so that needs to be looked at.

I still worry about when he will get his "growth spurt". I know it's stupid and I shouldn't worry, but I can't help it.

He turned 14 this last summer, he's a little over 5'7" and about 108# soaking wet. At basketball prac. tonight I noticed quite a diff. in the size of the boys.. quite a few of them have underarm and leg hair. My son has none and still the face of a "boy".

Maybe the later spurt will be better in the long run, who knows? Maybe he will be taller..

quote:

Originally posted by iowabbmom:
thanks to everyone who responded.. I think we are going to take him to an ortho doc just to be on the "safe side". It seems to hurt more on the inside of both knees, so that needs to be looked at.

I still worry about when he will get his "growth spurt". I know it's stupid and I shouldn't worry, but I can't help it.

He turned 14 this last summer, he's a little over 5'7" and about 108# soaking wet. At basketball prac. tonight I noticed quite a diff. in the size of the boys.. quite a few of them have underarm and leg hair. My son has none and still the face of a "boy".

Maybe the later spurt will be better in the long run, who knows? Maybe he will be taller..

Don't worry about what you can't control. My son was 5'4" when he turned fourteen. On the freshman basketball team he was a foot shorter than some of the kids. He's a late spring birthday while the rest of the team had started school a year later. Some teammates were a year and a half older.

Two years later he's 6'1". His sister went from 4'8" to 5'10" in eighteen months. According to a wive's tale our pediatrician said is often true, a boy grows to be 6-8 inches taller than his mother.

quote:

Originally posted by Gingerbread Man:
Almost definately growing pains. My son has chronic lower back pains from pitching- sometimes stabbing pain to where he can't do anything. A few days later and he is back to normal as if nothing happened. Personally I believe his pain is due to tight muscles due to growth and he slightly pulls them. He also gets pain in his plantars (heel on foot) when he plays basketball. It is so bad that after he plays he can barely walk. Some people think we are over-pushing our kid. The doctor said it was just tight muscles due to bone growth and not to worry too much- warm up and stretch good and don't overdue it.

I believe there may be some Orthopedic issues. My son (a catcher) just turned 13 this month. He is now 6' 3" and 200lbs. During the Little League season he was 6' 2" and 194lbs. He was clocked at 81mph. He trains at Cutting Edge Sport Sciences and has had no real trouble with his knees. He does however have size 15 flat feet. He started wearing custon made sport orthotics and the results were instant. You may do yourself a huge favor by getting him into some custom orthotics.